Whats In My Makeup Bag??

I often get calls from magazines wanting quotes about whats in my personal makeup bag.
I also get tons of emails/facebook messages/twitter DMs - you name it asking me the same thing - what do I use and what do I carry around with me.

When I leave the house each morning, I don't plan on doing any repair work to my makeup, unless I have to go out that evening, so I don't carry much of the main stuff.
Lets have a look at what I do carry:

image courtesy kellycappelli.com

Starting from the bottom right.
Its really important to have a well constructed makeup bag, as this is what is going to protect all the goodies inside. Mine is from the Pink Mumbai Collection from Stephanie Johnson. I use their cosmetic travel bags when I travel too. I'm obsessed with the Mumbai collections - I love the exotic Bollywood look and feel of them.
In the top left corner you'll see I have the matching mirror. (I also have the change purse in Mumbai Pink)

Next I have a couple of badger hair Corinna B makeup brushes in case I need to powder or add bronzer, and a couple of lip brushes.
I don't change my basic makeup routine particularly often, but what I do change is my lips. I'll often change them throughout the day depending on my mood, so there is always an assortment of lip changes on board.
Generally there are a couple of different toned nude lipliners (you can modify any lip with a good nude), I always have the amazing Julie Hewett Rouge Noir lipliner with me, either so that I can pull off a totally slammin red lip, or so that I can kick some life into a more subtle color. Rouge Noir is on the "can't live without" list.
Ellis Faas lip pen/bullet in shade L207. This is a beautiful, neutral nudey pink shade that goes with everything. I love these bullet products - you wind up color from the bottom, it disperses just the right amount, and it is totally self contained.
H.Wood.Beauty lipgloss in Cabo. The color pay off with these glosses is amazing. It applies completely evenly across the lip.
NUDE Skin Care lipbalm comes in a cute little square box, is intensely moisturizing, tastes like vanilla kisses and can be used just as a lip balm, or worn with a liner for a soft effect lip.
Immediately above the lipliners I have three fab lipsticks. From right to left, Cover Girl Lip Perfection in Spellbound is a sensational, bold fuchsia, in the middle I have Mak from H.Wood.Beauty, which is a soft, creamy pink/nude, and on the left I have Something New by MAC, which is another fuchsia lip, but less bold and less blue than Spellbound. (this season I am all about fuchsia...)

Very long work days frequently morph into late nights, when there's a dinner or drinks event after a shoot, late business meetings, or even after a long day at the race track with racing beauty Jennifer Jo Cobb when we have a last minute sponsor dinner to attend. My makeup has been on sometimes since as early as 4 or 5am, and now seriously needs a little love to make me look wide awake, bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Girl's gotta have a game plan, and here's how it goes:

A spritz of skyn ICELAND Arctic Face Mist (travel size bottle) instantly refreshes and revitalizes both your skin and your makeup. It also gives your skin a mega dose of vitamins, so instead of looking tired out and beat up, it looks gorgeous.
skyn ICELAND Icelandic Relief Eye Cream pen. I dab some of this under my eyes. Its instantly cooling and refreshing as well as hydrating. The first place on our face to show exhaustion is under the eyes, this product is a high speed remedy. And it feels amazing.
Ellis Faas concealer bullet. Next step is adding back in some under eye color. This product smooths on over existing makeup, knocks out any blue/grays that are appearing under the eye, and makes you look rested.
Standing upright on the top row is the Ellis Faas milky eyeshadow bullet in shade E109. This is a beautiful vanilla with a slight sheen to it.I put a little around the inner corner of my eye and into the lower lash line. This instantly wakes the eye up, and makes you look fresh and alert.

Below the Arctic Mist bottle I have an eyeliner pencil and a deep aubergine eyeshadow with a
taklon liner brush from my Corinna B makeup brush line. Using black around your eyes when you're already tired will just drag your eye down, but a deep aubergine will give you depth through the lashline and will make your eye color pop like crazy. I use the taklon liner brush to buff and smudge the eyeshadow, making it into a soft, smoldery liner.

I have Makeup Forever Duo Mat in shade 209 in case I need powder or foundation repair, and normally just one piece of cheek makeup. Shown here are Nars The Multiple in Cadaques (hot pink), Copacabana (a high shimmer) and H.Wood.Beauty cream blush in Snapdragon.
Cream blushes are my absolute favorite thing. They give a round glow to the cheek, and don't sit on the surface of the skin like a powder bush does.

So there you have it - the makeup items that go in my handbag, and get me through pretty much anything life throws my way :)

Whats In My Handbag???

Everywhere I go, and I do mean everywhere, whether its to a shoot, a coffee shop, walking through an airport or even walking through the garage at Nascar with Jen (race car driver Jennifer Jo Cobb), people stop me and ask me where I got my cool handbag.

image courtesy kellycappelli.com

So lets have a look.

My handbag is a faux Russian silver fox bag, and is made by a company called Rebirth. (find them here on facebook at Rebirth Bags By Tracey Martin)
I think it is by far the most fun bag I've ever owned! Its super well built, can carry a lot of gear around in it, and even being dragged around in my crazy life it holds up beautifully!

The next question is invariably what do I carry in it??

image courtesy kellycappelli.com

 As you can see, quite a lot! Starting from left to right up top, I have no idea whats under my book, but when we emptied out my bag I found a bunch of airline boarding passes, so that might be them.
I'm re-reading Under The Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes (one of my fave books), there's always a magazine in there, this time its Vogue Italia, Feb issue I think?
I always have Starbucks Via packs and 5 hour energies in my bag. Long work days = always tired!
Invariably there'll be Larabars in there too, so that I don't grab muffins or junk food when I'm suddenly starving.
Nail polish for touch ups - I'm all about the fuchsia thing right now, this one is OPI Thats Berry Daring. Its fabulous!

To the right of the nail polish is my SPF touch up product. Its by ColoreScience and is SPF50. I brush this on as needed over my makeup as the day wears on, keeping my sun-protection at a premium. The SPF 30 you put on at home in the morning has lost most of its efficiency by noon so you need a touch up product. (this one is also great if you live in humid places and sunscreen feels to melty or gooey on your skin)

Next there's my blackberry, my day planner ( I love the lavender leather cover) with the ever present sharpie, my aviators, EmergenC Acai flavor, and finally my beautiful Stephanie Johnson Pink Mumbai makeup bag, full of good things!
I actually pull out my Pink Mumbai makeup bag and use it as a clutch bag if I need to high speed change into something for evening.

Tomorrow I'm going to show you exactly what I carry around in my Stephanie Johnson Pink Mumbai makeup bag...

Chantecaille Faux Cils Fabulous!

When spring arrives its time to retool your makeup look.

The heavier eye makeup that we wear through the colder, darker months gives way to a fresher, lighter look.
But this can leave you feeling very bare, so you need a couple of tricks up your sleeve to make your eye look vibrant and alive.

Lately I've been doing two new things.
The first is using Ellis Faas milky eyeshadow pen in shade E109. This is a beautiful vanilla shade with a slight shimmer to it. It wakes the eye up (I am sooo sleep deprived right now with the manic shoot schedule I've been on of late), especially when you add some into the inner corner of the eye, its soft and light, and it gives the eye a very fresh feel.And it stays on all day and night.

Secondly, its all about my new mascara.  
Faux Cils by Chantecaille.

This is one of the most fabulous mascaras I've ever used.
This is a high performance, super volumizing mascara that instantly lengthens and thickens without clumping.
The formula itself is loaded with treatment, so you are building a healthier, more lusterous lash.

Faux Cils combines a unique full bristle, amplifying brush, an exceptionally efficient wiper that prevents clumping, and a high performance formula that is lightweight and sleek, stays on all day and night, defines lashes, enhances elasticity (so they don't look brittle), and is water resistant.

Faux Cils (french for false lashes)  gives you such an amazing fan of full, gorgeous lashes that they could actually pass as false lashes!

When you are paring down your eye makeup for spring, the biggest, most fabulous effect you can attain is a full, lush row of sexy lashes. It brings attention and drama to the eye without weighing it down.
Faux Cils gives a girl all the drama she could possibly want.
Love!

Ellis Faas - My New Obsession...

Every now and then a product line comes along that is truly, truly spectacular.
Ellis Faas is one of the most amazing product lines I have ever worked with.
I am in love. I am obsessed...

Ellis is a dutch born makeup artist, who's work you have seen over and over.



Vogue Paris cited Ellis Faas as ""one of the most influential make-up artists of her time". And indeed, she has worked with the world's most pre-eminent fashion designers, photographers, stylists, hairdressers and models. Ellis’ work has been published on the covers of the world’s best-known fashion magazines. Additionally, Ellis has worked for make-up brands, such as Clinique, Lancôme and MAC Cosmetics – and she was asked by L'Oréal to create a make-up line for their skin care brand, Biotherm. After the contract with L’Oréal ended in 2007, the way was paved for her to create her own brand: ELLIS FAAS.

For the past month I have been on a steady stream of shoots, including three magazine covers, and throughout I have been using Ellis Faas products, both on the shoots, and wearing them myself.
Putting them through their paces.

As a makeup artist, my prime concern is the quality of the complexion. I want to see gorgeous, fresh, radiant skin. I want the skin to look healthy and alive, not smothered in makeup. I want it to glow.

That's where Ellis Faas first got me. Their Skin Veil foundation does exactly that. It is super sheer, so you don't look or feel like you're wearing a foundation mask, but also super concentrated and highly pigmented, so you have a flawless coverage.
Its great for street wear and for professional use. And it photographs amazingly.

You can buy Skin Veil Foundation in a bottle, or in these cool bullet style pens.

Each foundation shade has its own matching concealer - there's no guess work involved. It comes in a bullet pen too.

I carry an Ellis Faas concealer pen in my handbag for touch ups after a long day, before I head out to an evening event/dinner/drinks. It gives the under eye area an instant lift and doesn't cake into existing makeup. Fab.

Ellis offers a couple of different eye shadow formulations, that also come in the pens. They are liquid to powder formulations that are super easy to apply, layer into and work with, and that quite literally last all day.

There is a variety of fabulous colors to choose from, all designed to be universally flattering to skin tone, so you won't get home and find the fabulous color you just bought looks less than fabulous on you.

Ellis Faas lips come in three formulations, creamy, milky and glazed.

There are 27 colors to choose from, all of which are paraben free and full of Vitamin E. They keep the lips beautifully hydrated, don't bubble up or get tacky, and the color lasts and lasts. You can build it as intensely as you want, or wear it as a soft, sheer lip. Lots of options.

The lips come in the bullet pens too, making them very easy to use, as well as convenient to carry around in your handbag.

To streamline your entire makeup process, and to do away with that messy makeup drawer and all its broken and dusty contents, Ellis developed this clever holder.

All your products sit neatly inside, you can see at a glance which product you're reaching for. And its all incredibly neat and tidy, and very effective. (as well as looking cool)

To learn more about Ellis Faas products, check out her amazing website EllisFaas.com
There are even how to videos taught by Ellis herself, that show you just how quick and simple these products are to use.

Guarantee you love them like I do!

Gaga Covers Bazaar May 2011

I've never  been a fan, but I am starting to just love this girl's crazy creativity.

Isn't she fun??
Lady Gaga covers Harpers Bazaar May 2011 issue.


Styled by  Nicola Formichetti and photographed by creepy Uncle Pervy himself, Terry Richardson.

 

When asked about the horns she's been wearing ever since the Grammys, 

Gaga tells interviewer Derek Blasberg

“Well, first of all, they’re not prosthetics. They’re my bones. They’ve always been inside of me, but I have been waiting for the right time to reveal to the universe who I truly am. They come out when I’m inspired.”

Lordy she's fun! And have you noticed how beautiful she is underneath all the crazy getups she wears?

Nars Summer 2011 Collection

You can always count on Nars to bring something super fabulous to the new season!

Here is the Nars Summer 2011 Collection, making its debut today (April 15th)

Inspired by Motu Tane, Francois Nars small island in French Polynesia, this collection features turquoise and greens, whites and golds, cantaloupes and corals.

 

Superliciously notable items a girl must have:

Cap Ferrat Eyeshadow Trio (Icy sea foam, icy ocean green, icy turquoise)
Its the trip you take to the South of France, when you can't take a trip to the South of France.
And when you can!

Nars Dogon Duo Eyeshadow (Icy taupe with a metallic green sheen paired with a reflective black)

Nars Exotic Dance Duo (icy silver white with a metallic gold)

Nars New Order Highlighting Blush (soft pink with gold & silver shimmers)

Nars Mayflower Lipstick (raspberry shimmer)

Nars Pure Matte Lipstick in Carthage (hot pink)

I love the hot pinks and raspberries, as the blue undertone makes your teeth look super white.

There will also be a limited edition of the Nars Laguna Body Bronzer and Laguna Multiple.
These will sell out fast so grab them quickly!!

Vogue.com Ten Best Dressed Of The Week

This is fun and fabulous!

I found a cool piece on Vogue.com looking at the 10 best dressed ladies of the week.

You can vote for your favorite.

Here are my top 5

Blake Lively in  Dolce & Gabbana dress and Louboutin shoes at the Green Lantern event at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, March 31 2011

Brooklyn Decker in Victoria Beckham dress and Stella McCartney dress at the ACMs in Las Vegas, April 3rd 2011

Carolina Herrera Jr wearing Carolina Herrera at the CH L'eau fragrance party in London, April 6th 2011

Helen Mirren wearing Alberta Ferretti dress, Sergio Rossi shoes and a Lanvin clutch at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, March 31st 2011

Renee Zellweger in Tommy Hilfiger trench and Jimmy Choo shoes at the Tommy Hilfiger Limited Edition Bag Launch in Milan, April 6th 2011

I'm thinking my favorite is Brooklyn Decker.
Check out the other 5 and cast your vote here on Vogue.com