The Classy, Coy and Curious - Please Note

Hi Classy, Coy and Curious Ones,


Just a quick note to say that I will be away for a few days. I’m travelling up to Coffs Harbor to row in a surf carnival up there for the weekend. No, surfboat rowing is not particularly lady like but sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do!!

Ill be back next week with a few more tips and tricks and possibly a tutorial on how to apply false eye lashes correctly WITHOUT stabbing yourself in the eye!


Yours rowing like a lady...I promise!


Jenn

xx

The Classy, Coy and Curious Top 10 Make Up Mistakes

We have all seen them. The girls wearing to much make up, not enough make up, the wrong shade of lipstick and horror of horrors the unblended foundation line on the jaw.


Here I am going to give you my top 10 make up mistakes. The dark lip liner with pink or rubbed off lipstick or the electric blue eyeshadow that matches the girls clothing...this one I have actually been guilty of at my year 12 formal not to mention all through years 16 - 18 and yes, there is photographic evidence...sigh.

Make Up Mistake #1 - Caked on foundation over bad skin.

This not only draws everyone's attention to the bumps on your skin but also this tends to look like a skin coloured mask! Ladies, if you are unlucky and have bad skin, don't cover it with foundation!
 It will not only make it look worse but will more than likely do more harm that good. If you have bad skin its best to try and keep it clean. Invest in some facial cleanser or go and see a dermatologist about some treatment. If you absolutly must wear somthing, invest in some powder bronzer or mineral make up. This will give your skin some colour without clogging your pores to much.

Makeup Mistake #2 - Dark lip liner and light lipstick.

Wow, this one is so wrong that it is funny. Do you remember when you were at kindergarten and your teacher told you to colour in the lines? Well that technique applies here as well.
I’m not sure why or how this trend came about I just know that it’s very bad. Pamela Anderson was even sporting this back in the day which is a worry!

If you want to use lip liner find a shade that is very close to your natural lip colour or a colour the same as or very close to the colour of the lipstick you are going to wear.
Line your lips, keeping in the natural lines that are already there and blend into your lip with a lip brush or your finger. Lip liner underneith your lipstick can actually help keep your lipstick on longer.

Next either get your lipstick (in a colour of a similar shade to your lip liner) or your favorite gloss, put this on and you’re done! Lovely full looking lips!

Makeup Mistake #3 - Overly drawn-in eyebrows.

Sometimes women can get a bit over enthusiastic with their eyebrow pencil.

This not only looks very bizarre but is a massive mistake! If your eyebrows are not as full as you would like simply get yourself an eyebrow pencil and a little eye brow brush or smudger.

When you are purchasing your eyebrow pencil, try and find one as close as possible to your natural eyebrow colour. Simply draw a few short feathery lines (keeping with the natural flow of the way your hair grows) until your satisfied with the colour and fullness added by the pencil.

Then grab your eyebrow smudger or a brush and smudge your eyebrows (again keeping in the direction that your hair grows) and there you have it! Nicely penciled eyebrows without looking like they have obviously been drawn on!

Make Up Mistake #4 - The Obvious Blush Line.

The first thing you need to do after you have brought your blush home is throw out that piddely little brush that comes with it! This will help a lot!

This is where you need to have a blush brush, it will make adding blush perfectly much easier.

The trend to have blush in a very red colour in a line along your cheek bone went out with the 80's! These days a more natural look is best.

All you need is your blush brush. Dip the brush into your blush and gently tap on the side of your hand to get rid of excess powder.

Give yourself a big smile in the mirror and figure out where the apples of your cheeks are, in a circular motion add some to the apples of your cheeks then gently up along your cheek bone. If you have put on to much blush just grab a tissue and gently wipe some off.

The best shades are a peachy, pink but this definitely depends on your skin colour. Don't be afraid to ask for help, that is what the cosmetic counter girls in Myer and DJ's are there for!

Make up mistake # 5 - Completely Fluro Coloured Mascara.

Now this is a fantastic tip for an 80's dress up party but definitely not for the sexy, classy and stylish women. This trend pretty much took off in the 80's (along with most of the bad trends here in this list!)

The colours I’m talking about are pink, glitter, purple, electric blue and green.

Navy blue mascara can be great for tired eyes making them open up. Also brown mascara is great for very pale skinned ladies as black can be to dark and harsh for your English Rose skin tone.

If you still want to wear a colour like electric blue in every day life then I would try a base coat of black or brown then just scrape the electric blue along the tips of your eyelashes.

Make up mistake # 6 - The Foundation Line At The Jaw line.

Oh dear, now this is a very common mistake and I have seen it done and done it myself.

Putting foundation so beautifully on your face, doing your smoky eye, adding your gloss stepping out only to find that you have totally not blended your foundation into your jaw!

The way to combat this is when you are putting your foundation on with your sponge, foundation brush or even you're fingers make sure that you never neglect the jaw line, do this and this awful mistake will never happen again.

Maake up mistake # 7 - The Wrong Shade Of Foundation.

This mistake is show prominant that I am going to do a post on it next week. This is again a very easy mistake to make! Picture this.......

You have just come back from a 2 week cruise all through the Caribbean with a fabulous bunch of friends. The ship stopped at various islands along the way; you come home back to a blustery winter beautiful, tanned and relaxed.

You have a close friends wedding coming up the weekend you get back, how fabulous! You will be all nice and tanned!

You put your entire make up on as normal and head out for a nice time. You take some happy snaps and realize that your face is not matching the colour of the rest of you!

This is because you have used the very same foundation that you had been using during the dark and rainy winter before you left, this is NOT going to work with the beautiful tan you got while you were away!

Ladies, if you are prone to go a beautiful olive brown colour (I’m jealous) then you definitely need to invest in 2 types of coloured foundation. One for when you are normal and un-tanned and one for when you have caught some sun, this will help the ghostly white face never ruin your photos again.

Make up mistake # 8 - Try Hard Eyeshadow.

Now just because your new compact came with purple, green, olive and beige doesn’t mean that you have to wear these colours all at the same time.

If you are not experienced in using make up or are new to the make up world don't take off more than you can chew and try to hard.

Sure, it’s important to experiment but it’s also important to know when you look silly and when you don't. Those girls that are getting around wearing about 10 different shades on their eye lids when they go out look lame and this look is usually only reserved for a catwalk fashion show or dress up.

PS. I actually think the above picture is gorgeous but not to wear for everyday and not for ladies to wear on a night out UNLESS they happen to be walking in a fabulous catwalk show!

Make up mistake # 9 - Attempting To Create Contours That Are Not There.

This technique is definitely one that should be left to the professionals. Trying to use darker shades of blush, foundation and bronzer to give the illusion of sharper cheek bones when they are not there doesn’t usually work in the glaring light of day.

If you want to try these techniques I would talk to a professional and in you're day to day make up concentrate on pretty make up that plays out your best features.

Make up mistake #10 - Going To Bed With Your Make Up On.

We have all come home tired and possibly a little tipsy and just thought "Sod it... and slept in you're make up. Whenever I have done this I wake up with lovely little flecks of mascara and eyeshadow all in my eyes causing my eyes to be sore and look so bloodshot, definitely not a classy look

If you have time to out in on, make time to take it off. All you need is some of those facial cleansing wipes to at least get the majority off before your head hits the pillow. They are so easy to use you really don't have any excuse, simply just pull one out of the pack, wipe your face and throw it in the bin!


What are your top make up mistakes? Have I left any off this list? Have you committed a make up crime?


Yours deep in thought and hiding any suspect pictures of me committing any of the above....

Jenn
xxx

Short and Sweet: Quotes to live by

Hi Classy, Coy and Curious Ones!

I just stumbled across a lovely quote that I thought needed its place in this blog. The ever Classy, Coy and Curious women who is a major fashion and all round icon of mine, Audrey Hepburn.

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone"

Audrey Hepburn May 4, 1929 - January 20, 1993

Yours thinking of Audrey

Jenn

xx

2009 Summer Make Up Trends

I have been spying on some of the top designer fashion shows online and have found the top make up trends for summer 2009.

1) Bushy Brows

This is a trend that unfortunately not everyone can pull off. As I mentioned in my below Eyebrow Magic post if you are one of the lucky ones that naturally grows a bushy brow don’t try and over pluck them to make them thinner. Embrace the bushy brow and wear it with pride!

If you want to give the bushy brow a go you will have to try and go for the awkward eyebrow growing faze. Try and keep them as neat as possible while they are growing out.

You will be very tempted to pluck the strays but just let them grow. The only hairs you should pluck when you’re growing your eyebrows are the hairs in the middle.

 Even when you are growing out your brows a monobrow is unacceptable.

2) Flawless Skin

I’m not sure that this is a trend that is just for summer, flawless skin is on trend all the time as far as I am concerned! This is very simple and you can achieve this with just a few easy steps.

1) Perfectly matched foundation

2) Perfectly matched concealer

3) Perfect technique

A few things to remember when you are applying and choosing your foundation colour.

Don't test the foundation colour on the back of your wrist! The only way you could get further away from your face is if you were testing the foundation on your foot! The place to test is either on your décolletage or jaw line. Also make sure that you check the colour under natural light before you make your purchase.

The reason for this is in department stores and places like Priceline is the lighting is always that horrid harsh white light which is not only unflattering but also doesn’t give you anywhere near the right lighting to choose any kind of foundation correctly.

3) Get Creative
Creative colours, metallics and lush lips are all over the catwalk now. Don’t be afraid to play with a little colour. Don’t just leave your make up the same every day! They say change is as good as a holiday and what better time than the Christmas Holidays to change up your make up and colour it up!

If wearing colour freaks you out try just a hint of colour in your eye make up.
Don’t over load your brush and simply sweep it on top of what you would normally wear.
E.g. If your everyday make up is a brown, beige smoky eye with black mascara and cherry gloss. Pop into Priceline and pick up a nice lilac or purple and sweep it over the entire eyelid. This will not only change the brown but will also liven up a tired make up look.

4) Lips, Lips, Lips
Even I admit that (until recently) I have not been a fan of lipstick. I have always preferred the tinted gloss, lip stain or just plain no colour high shine lip gloss. I stumbled across the most wonderful nude lip colour from MAC and I swear I have been converted.

These days lipstick comes in so many colours there will surely be one out there for you! Be sure to test the colour against you're own skin tone and take a chance!




5) Sun cream
Sun cream is always trendy for every season.
To stay ahead of the trends and keep your skin happy and looking lovely, make sure to always wear sun cream or you will end up covered in skin cancers and looking like a leather bag!

Also you will prematurely age your skin and look old before your time..shudder…






Yours spying on trends

Jenn

xxx

The Easiest Smoky Eye

Hello Campers! Rise and shine! Becuase today (as promised) I am giving you a very easy Smoky Eye that will get you from day to night with no hassle at all!

Ok, so either print this fabulous post out or take your lap top into the bathroom/bedroom and lets get started!

Also a little note that I have only done the eye make up below, I have no foundation, lips or hair done with this look.

First things first - Clean the eyes with a make up wipe, make up remover on a tissue or one of those round make up pads that you can get in packs of 50 for $5.

The brushes that you will need are these below: A rounded eyeshadow brush, a short slanted tip brush and a dome short hair brush.

The colours and make up that you will need are: Black matte eyeshadow, a good base colour like mushroom or champagne, a grey matte eyeshadow, a soft black kohl eyeliner, black mascara.

Step 2 - Concealer and your base eyeshadow colour

Simply grab your perfectly matched concealer (this is usually a few shades lighter than your everyday foundation) and dab it under the eye and a little on the eyelid itself. Make sure to rub gently as the skin on and around your eye is very delicate.

After you have gently rubbed your concealer in, grab your base colour and cover the entire eye lid right upto the brow bone.

                                                    

Step 3 - Eyeliner

Grab your soft black kohl eyeliner and gently pull your outer eye outwards so the skin is taut. You are going to draw a nice thick line along the top of your lashes right to the end of your outer eye. Dont worry to much if your line is not straight and is perhaps a little lumpy, after we are finished you wont even notice.

Step 4 - Black Eyeshadow

Now that you have a lovely black line above your lashes its time to blend! Grab your black eyeshadow and your dome short hair brush and start to build the black colour from your outer corner of the eye and only go as high as just above the eye crease.

                                                    

                                        

Step 5 - Grey Eyeshadow and your short tiped slanted brush

Now your smoky eye should be starting to take shape. You will need your round eyeshadow brush for this step (the one with the longest bristles) The next step is just as simple as the previous.

In the inner corner where you can see your base colour and the end of your eyeliner is where you are going to put the grey colour. Make sure that you blend the grey into the black or you will end up with colour that just stops in the middle of your eye.

Also after you have done the grey colour, pick up your slanted short tiped brush and go back to your black eyeshadow. Dip the top part of the brush (make sure to tap as you dont want too much eyeshadow on this brush as you will get to much colour fall out under the eye) and gently drag it under your bottom lashes from one end to the other, smudging it a little as you go.

See the picture below, this will give your eyes some much needed definition. Make sure you go right into the inner corner of your eye. See how much better the right eye is to the left?

                                     

Step 6 - Mascara

After you have put your black eyeshadow under each eye the smoky eye is almost finished! Add a few coats of black mascara on your top and bottom lashes. The will really make them pop! Once thing to do before you put on mascara is to really make sure your happy with the intensity of the colour.

If you want it darker or are unhappy with your blending its best to try and fix this before your mascara. If you simply want more colour try applying your eyeshadow with a wet brush!

                                                    

                                   

Step 7 - Eyeliner

Welcome to the last and final step for this sexy smoky eye! Grab your eyeliner and with your free hand gently pull down the bottom of your eye. This will expose the inner rim of your eye which is where your black eyeliner is going.

                                               

                                

All that is left to do now is do your hair, put on some sexy heels and a dress and your ready to go!

There you have it! the very easy, classy and sexy smoky eye!

         

Yours all smoked up and loving it

Jenn

xxx

Eyebrow Magic

If your eyes are the windows to your soul, think of eyebrows as the lovely curtains that frame the windows.
To have the correct shape eyebrow is like putting the square peg in the square hole. It is not going to work properly unless they are the correct shape!


Shaping your brows is very easy to do yourself but as always, if you have never done anything to your eyebrows don't just get in front of the mirror and start plucking! You will need a clear idea of what shape you would like them to be and what is going to suit you.

One of the biggest mistakes that women make is over plucking. This to me is like a cardinal sin! I know plucking is addictive when you're doing it but ladies LEARN TO STOP!

The easiest way to figure out what shape you want your brows is to take a good long hard look at your face, your eyebrows and your eyes. Is your face square, oval or round? What shape are your eyebrows naturally?

Once you have figured this out you will be good to go!

What you will need:

** A great pair of slanted nose tweezers – Tweezer Man does some good ones but you can also pick up a good cheap pair at any Priceline or chemist.


** A well lit large mirror to check yourself out in – The bathroom is probably the best place, as long as you have plenty of light

If you have quite a long face a more flatter style of eyebrow is best for you. If you have a very round face you will want to go for a more angles rather than gently curved eyebrow and finally if you have a heart shaped face, a nice gently curved brow is right for you.

An important thing to do when working towards the perfect set of eyebrows is the Pencil Eyebrow Test. This as the name suggests does involve a pencil.

This trick will give you the perfect place where your eyebrow should start and stop. You will need a full length pencil for this, I realize that more than likely your computer is nowhere near a mirror so feel free to run to the bathroom to do this and come back.

With your pencil place it on the outside of your nostril pointing directly up. Where the pencil starts, is where your eyebrow should start.
If your eyebrow is either well short or a little bit over, take note that you need to grow or do some trimming!

The next step is leaving the pencil in the same place, angle it over to the end of your eye, above the cheek bone. Where the pencil passes is where your eyebrow should end. See the example below

Also if you are one of those lucky ladies to have been blessed with the very fashion forward bushy eyebrows, leave them bushy! Just make sure to keep them tidy at all times because onces those puppies get out of control they tend to resemble caterpillars sitting above your eyes!


Stay tuned for a post of the perfect black, charcoal grey smoky eye!


Yours eyebrowed,


Jenn
xx

MAC work shops

Other than getting your tips and tricks from this fabulous blog you can also sign up for a great seminar from the fabulous people at MAC. Learn from the M•A•C Pros in a seminar designed to teach you the techniques to enhance your skill of makeup application. Get M•A•C educated!

$120 fee redeemable with purchase of M•A•C products on the day.

See below for all major city stores in Australia that are participating in this:

There were more dates but these are the only places and dates left for the rest of 2009. I will update the list in the new year when the new dates come out....

19 November                                                                

David Jones Elizabeth St                                                                              

Elizabeth St, 2000                                                          

Sydney (02) 9266 5489                                                 

19 November
MAC Paddington
276 Oxford St, 2021
Paddington (02) 9360 8581

19 November                                                                                                          

David Jones Miranda                                             

600-634 The Kingsway, 2228                                      

Miranda (02) 9710 7253                                              

19 November
David Jones Bourke St
Bourke St, VIC 3000
Melbourne (03) 9643 2491

29 November                                                               

MAC Chapel St                                                            

539 Chapel St, 3141                                                      

South Yarra VIC (03) 9825 0100                                  

25 November
Myer Chermside
Gympie Rd, QLD 4032
Chermside (07) 3632 5132

27 November                                                            

Myer Adelaide                                                           

22 Rundle Mall SA, 5000                                       

Adelaide (08) 8205 9119                                                

22 November
Myer Perth
200 Murray St, WA 6000
Perth (08) 9265 5732

22 November

David Jones Hay St

622 Hay St, WA 6000

Perth (08) 9210 4132

Yours LOVING MAC
Jenn
xx

PS. Image courtesy of MAC website

Short and Sweet Tips: Looking after make up brushes

So, you have gone and done "the right thing" in regards to your make up brushes. You have gone out to the department store and bought yourself some good quality brushes.

If the person you bought the brushes off was doing his/her job properly they would have told you how to care for your new babies but if they didn’t I will!

There are a few things that you should do to ensure that you get the longest life possible out of your brushes.


1) Make sure that they are kept in a make up bag or clean make up drawer.
Leaving your make up brushes out all the time will make them very susceptible to all kind of bacteria which is something that you don’t want to be spreading all over your face and into your make up.

2) Keep them clean.
If you have spent the money on good quality brushes I would suggest that you also splurge for some brush cleaner. There are cheaper alternatives like vinegar and water or just plain shampoo but if you have already spent the money another $30 won’t break the bank. Using brush cleaner is very simple, just grab your brush, give it a good spray of brush cleaner and then just wipe away into a paper towel. The good thing about this, is that your brushes will not be out of action drying for long either!

3) Don’t mix your brushes
The foundation brush should stay with the foundation, the eye shadow with the eye shadow and so on. This way they will not get cross contaminated and be ready to go when you need them. There is nothing worse than using your foundation brush for your eye shadow and not realising that there is some still left on the brush, as this can result in a lovely purple shade all over your face.

All in all, brushes are worth the spend if you are going to use them, if not just make do with the ones that you have or just buy the one. The amount and quality of brushes that you purchase really depends on your skill level and interest.


Yours all brushed up



Jenn
xx

The Perfect DIY At Home Facial

As soon as any women hears the words FACIAL they immidiate thought is ahhhhh relaxing....and a dreamy smile usually slides accross their face.

After the visions of relaxing fade the next thought is I cant afford it!!

That is where I come in! I’m going to show you how to do the very best At Home DIY Facial for half the price and possibly using products that you already have at home.


The first step is to gather all the things you are going to need, take the phone off the hook and lock the door.

What you will need:

* 2 large face washers

* A large hand towel

* Cleanser

* Toner

* Facial wipes (the wipes I mean are the dry cotton ones that you take your make up off with)

* Warm water in a basin

Grab your cleanser and either a face washer or whatever you would prefer to use, add a good amount of cleanser and give your face a good clean. Rub gently with the face washer, this is just getting off the dirt and make up that had been sitting on the top of your skin from the previous day.

Next comes the Toner! Try and make sure your toner is alcohol free as the alcohol in some toners tend to dry the skin out too much.

Get out your facial wipe pads and place a good amount of toner on there and wipe over your skin. This will close the pores up after having used the cleanser and also helps later on to keep the moisture in your skin. As I mentioned before; mostly girls with oily skin use toner so feel free to skip this step if you’re not comfortable using it.

The next thing to do is exfoliate. Please make sure you are using a facial exfoliator! If you are scrubbing your face with a body exfoliant you are doing it more harm than good. Because your skin is sensitive on your face you don’t want something that is too rough, it could tear your skin and could leave it damaged.

Make sure your skin is slightly damp and with your finger tips, gently rub the scrub in a circular motion on your face. Concentrate on the areas around your nose and forehead or if you have combination skin, work harder on the areas that tend to be ‘greasy’. Make sure that you stay away from your eye area as the thin skin around your eye is far too sensitive to cope with a scrub.

After you have finished, rinse your face well, ensuring that you don't have any granules left. Wipe over with a warm damp face washer just to be sure.

Now comes the fun part!

Fill up a large bowl or bathroom basin with hot water; make sure its not boiling but there needs to be steam rising from it.

Grab a hand towel and place your face over the basin/bowl and cover your head. Close your eyes and make sure you breathe deeply and slowly and let the steam drift up around your face. Try and stay there for 2-3 minutes. This helps to open up your pores. If you have some lavender oil handy, put 2 or 3 drops in, as lavender can aid with relaxation.

Dry your face off and apply a good amount of your favorite moisturiser and then you are done!

Your skin should be glowing, soft and feeling divine!

Yours slathered in moisturizing cream

 

Jenn

xx

Welcome to The Classy, Coy and Curious Girls Guide To Make Up!!

Welcome Ladies and Gentle Men!!

This is the very first blog for The Classy, Coy and Curious Girls Guide To Make Up!


On this blog you will find tips and tricks that will help you with your everyday make up dilemma's.

I will show your cute pictures, step by step guides and all kinds of things related to the CLASSY, the COY and of course the CURIOUS.

So make sure to check back in on a regular basis as this blog can down become your bible for all things make up and class!




Hope to see you soon and stay tuned for a tutorial on Lady GaGa make up!



Yours in Classy Make Up


Jenn Rickard



Author - The Classy, Coy and Curious Girls Guide to Make Up