Friday, May 31, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
snow in May....
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| my street covered in snow.... |
These are the first pictures I took with my new Canon Rebel, not the faithful point and shoot. Not bad, for a first attempt...
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| the trees capped... |
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| hardy succulants tipped... |
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| my wisteria blooming white, not purple... |
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| a tree on our block.... |
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| some abandoned tires... |
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| a fire hydrant or as we used to call them in NY, johnny pump.... |
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| the stump where our cat, Egbert, used to hang out.... |
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| the canopy of trees in our neighborhood |
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| the snow as it falls... |
Monday, May 27, 2013
making up is hard to do...
When you wake up in the morning, what's your routine?
I want to share mine with you. I have experimented with many beauty products over the years and do not use one line, but bits and pieces from several different ones. My biggest complaint is when I find a product I love and it is discontinued. Wah... My sources are department stores, websites, online stores and Ebay. If you go the department store route, find an associate that you trust and stick with him or her.
For foundation, find a product that disappears into your skin. Blend, blend, blend is the key. I use my fingers, but a foundation brush or a sponge works well, too. I like a foundation that makes my skin look dewy, but not oily. I battled oily skin for many years and it is a fine line between dewy and oily for me. If necessary, I use Shisheido oil blotting tissues which absorb the surface oil, but leave the foundation in place.
With blush, a product with pigment, but also that will blend with natural skin tone. No racing stripes please.
With eye cream or shadow, again pigment but blendability.
With eye pencils and liquid liners, a product that will define the eye and last the day. A trick that I use is to line the underneath of the upper eyelid. It adds depth to the eye and helps your lashes look lush.
Mascara and brow gel, no flaking please.
Then concealer. The older you are, the more to conceal. But again, it has to blend into the skin. No raccoon eyes.
My final face product is one I've used for a very long time, YSL Touche Éclat. Yes, it's expensive, but it's worth every penny. I have tried others and the results are not the same. I use it above the eyebrows, below the concealer and around the sides and base of the nose. It lightens and brightens.
Lips are always last and I change color often. But it's a three step process: lip liner, lipstick and lip gloss.
My current go-to combination is Chanel Nude lip pencil, Mac Can't Get Enough lipstick and Mac Oh Baby gloss. (Chanel has a new line of moisturizing lipsticks with pigment that I plan to explore.) With the three of them in place, I can chatter with students or customers for quite a while and still have lips.
Here's a list of the products I use:
Foundation: Shu Uemura Face Architect liquid foundation (no longer sold in US stores, find on their website or Ebay)
or Bare Minerals Ready (great feel to this) or Philosophy the Supernatural (tried and true)
Blush: Bobbi Brown cream blush, Bare Minerals Ready (powder)
Eye Cream: Laura Mercier Titanium (discontinued/current source is Ebay) but other colors are available. It does not crease in the crease (you understand) and lasts a long time.
Eye Pencil: Chanel or Lancome
Eye Liner: Dior Liquid liner (black), Bobbi Brown gel eyeliners (they stay all day)
Mascara: any of the Dior (I am using the electric blue right now!), Lancôme or Bobbi Brown Extreme Party (lasts through major meltdowns!)
Brow gel: I need one with color as it needs to cover some greys and also keep brows in place. I am currently using Dior brow gel in Brown. Others: Chanel (taupe), Lancôme
Concealer: Bobbi Brown concealer and powder
YSL Touche Éclat No. 1, no alternatives!
I want to share mine with you. I have experimented with many beauty products over the years and do not use one line, but bits and pieces from several different ones. My biggest complaint is when I find a product I love and it is discontinued. Wah... My sources are department stores, websites, online stores and Ebay. If you go the department store route, find an associate that you trust and stick with him or her.
For foundation, find a product that disappears into your skin. Blend, blend, blend is the key. I use my fingers, but a foundation brush or a sponge works well, too. I like a foundation that makes my skin look dewy, but not oily. I battled oily skin for many years and it is a fine line between dewy and oily for me. If necessary, I use Shisheido oil blotting tissues which absorb the surface oil, but leave the foundation in place.
 |
| a smudge of blush |
With blush, a product with pigment, but also that will blend with natural skin tone. No racing stripes please.
With eye cream or shadow, again pigment but blendability.
With eye pencils and liquid liners, a product that will define the eye and last the day. A trick that I use is to line the underneath of the upper eyelid. It adds depth to the eye and helps your lashes look lush.
 |
| mascara pigment for eyes |
Mascara and brow gel, no flaking please.
Then concealer. The older you are, the more to conceal. But again, it has to blend into the skin. No raccoon eyes.
My final face product is one I've used for a very long time, YSL Touche Éclat. Yes, it's expensive, but it's worth every penny. I have tried others and the results are not the same. I use it above the eyebrows, below the concealer and around the sides and base of the nose. It lightens and brightens.
Lips are always last and I change color often. But it's a three step process: lip liner, lipstick and lip gloss.
My current go-to combination is Chanel Nude lip pencil, Mac Can't Get Enough lipstick and Mac Oh Baby gloss. (Chanel has a new line of moisturizing lipsticks with pigment that I plan to explore.) With the three of them in place, I can chatter with students or customers for quite a while and still have lips.
Here's a list of the products I use:
Blush: Bobbi Brown cream blush, Bare Minerals Ready (powder)
Eye Cream: Laura Mercier Titanium (discontinued/current source is Ebay) but other colors are available. It does not crease in the crease (you understand) and lasts a long time.
Eye Pencil: Chanel or Lancome
Eye Liner: Dior Liquid liner (black), Bobbi Brown gel eyeliners (they stay all day)
Mascara: any of the Dior (I am using the electric blue right now!), Lancôme or Bobbi Brown Extreme Party (lasts through major meltdowns!)
Brow gel: I need one with color as it needs to cover some greys and also keep brows in place. I am currently using Dior brow gel in Brown. Others: Chanel (taupe), Lancôme
Concealer: Bobbi Brown concealer and powder
YSL Touche Éclat No. 1, no alternatives!
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| the ombre lip, great look, practice makes perfect |
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| love my lipstick pencils, lipsticks and glosses |
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| the elusive perfect finished look.... |
Sunday, May 26, 2013
presenting me....
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| mood board painted and full of ideas, colors, textures.... |
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| a print my mother gave me many years ago |
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| pen and ink drawing of Colle Sannita in Naples area, my mother's family emigrated from there My cousin, Nick Mascia is the talented architect and artist |
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| my porthole symbolizing the journeys I take literally and figuratively |
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| my newest addition, a Moroccan window |
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| short people.... need stools to reach top shelves.... |
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| My good luck elephant, mistakenly misnomered a giraffe?! |
Saturday, May 25, 2013
new do?!
Thinking of a new hairdo for the summer, adding some color or highlights?
Here are a few great ideas from the folks at Matrix that caught my eye.
What do you think?
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
all aboard...
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| does anyone remember the old train station ... |
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| or when these buildings were places of employment, not condos? |
I must admit that I am in love with older architecture and what could be a better place than RVA to find these buildings and take photos? I'm going to carry my camera with me all the time because I often see something I want to capture in film, but the camera's at home. So from now on, I'll be locked and loaded... not in the NRA way .... my way (much safer) ...
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