Blush - Which Colors Look Best on Which Skintone

People with very fair skin tend to already have a lot of pink undertones, so they'll want to shy away from too-pink blush. I like a slightly rosy-coral shade like Lancome's Blush Subtil in Shimmer Mandarin Sky ($29.50) because it has a nice balance between the colors that isn't too overpowering, and the touch of shimmer highlights the cheekbones.

Another blush that looks beautiful on fair skin (or really any and all skin tones, actually) is the world-renowned Nars Blush in Orgasm ($25), a sheer, faintly shimmery peachy-pink that flatters just about everyone. It now comes in Super Orgasm, too, which has a higher concentration of gold glitter that's great for nighttime.

A great cream blush option in a tone like Shimmer Mandarin Sky and Orgasm is Philosophy's The Supernatural Lit From Within Healthy Cream Blush in Feel Warm All Over ($22.50) - that's a mouthful, I know. But, it's a pretty sheer peachy-pink with a slight touch of shimmer.

Kate Winslet looks gorgeous no matter what, but I love her soft blush here.

Gwyneth Paltrow wears pretty peachy-pink blush

If you have medium-toned skin, a warm pink with brown undertones is usually a good choice. I really love Lancome's Blush Subtil in Mauve Coquette ($29.50), which has a good balance between pink and brown that flatters just about everyone.

Laura Mercier's Second Skin Cheek Color in Rose Bloom ($24) is another pretty option that is a warm, tawny rose shade. An added bonus - this stuff stays on all day. I tend to find myself touching up later in the day but this blush stays on better than most powder blushes I've used.

Clinique has a great cream blush, also. Their Blushwear Cream Stick in Rosy Blush ($18.50) is an awesome on-the-go twist-up stick that provides a sheer, natural flush that lasts and lasts. All you have to do is stripe your cheek where you want your blush and blend it out with your fingers - simple. And very pretty!

Natalie Portman's glow is natural and fresh, not too done up

Megan Mullally looks beautiful with a soft rosy glow

For very yellow skin tones (most often women of Asian and Middle Eastern nationalities), coral and bronze colors look most flattering. These keep the skin tone warm and glowing without clashing like a pink blush would. Makeup Forever's Powder Blush in Tangerine ($19) is a vibrant, matte orange blush that I would only particularly recommend for very deep yellow-based skintones because it is quite bold, but it looks beautiful on. For lighter yellow-toned skin, I like Cargo's Beachblush in Coral Beach ($13). It has four stripes of color that you can apply individually or blend together to make a fresh, glowing, bronzy look.

Another great choice is Josie Maran's Blush in Blossom ($20) which is a warm coral shade. Another great thing about Josie Maran products is that they are all fragrance-free and don't have any harmful chemicals that can be found in many other cosmetics, plus the packaging is made from biodegradable corn plastic. A great look that's also eco-friendly? I think that's

pretty awesome.

A pretty cream option is Nars The Multiple in Portofino ($37), which is a shimmering coral. It's called 'The Multiple' for a really awesome reason - it can be used as a cheek color, eye color, or lip color. Killing three birds with one stone never sounded so good. Plus, it's cream-to-powder finish stays on until you're ready to wash it off.

Freida Pinto's pale peach blush highlights her delicate bone structure perfectly

What's beautiful about Lucy Liu other than her warm bronzy glow? The fact that she doesn't cover up her freckles like they're a flaw - she flaunts them! Gorgeous!

Deeper skin tones tend to look good with dark reddish or deep pink shades of blush, like Stila's Convertible Color in Fuchsia ($25), which is another cream that can be used as a lipstick.

Makeup Forever's Powder Blush in Dark Raspberry ($19) is another pretty choice for dark skin.

Naomi Campbell looks gorgeous with a pop of berry blush

Everything about Jennifer Hudson's makeup here looks amazing

I hope this post helps take some of the mystery out of what color will look best with your skintone. I'll keep up the theme of blush and make my next one about great brushes for blush and some tips on how to apply cream blushes, too.

Blush - Taking the Guesswork Out of Where to Put It

Every single day (there truly isn't a day that goes by) I see women with their blush applied horrendously. They've either got on entirely too much, so much it looks like stripes on their cheeks, or so little that they look tired and blah. Here are a few examples of how NOT to wear your blush!

Christina Aguilera - LOVE the red lips, HATE that blush! What could possibly be considered flattering about that? If it were about ten shades lighter, she'd look amazing.

Hayden Panettiere - she's so pretty with such a lovely complexion, but those dark cheeks distort her face!

I'm not going to point out everything wrong with Lil Kim's look here (trust me, it's more than just the blush, but that should be obvious), but that blush - really??

I get a lot of ladies asking me where exactly on their face are they supposed to even put their blush. I see women with it on right on the apples of their cheeks 98% of the time, with can work for some face shapes, but not all.

If you have a round shaped face, you want to apply your blush diagonally from the outer corner of your mouth up towards the top of the ear. This will visibly thin the face, making it look a little longer instead of so round. Below are some pictures of good blush application for a round face.

If you have a square-shaped face, you'll want to soften the jawline by starting your blush on the cheekbones at about the center of the eye, and blend back up toward the temples. If you add a little brush of your blush across the forehead and down the chin, very, very softly, it will also round out the jawline a little.

For a rectangular face, you want to put the blush on similar to the square-shaped face, except instead of starting at the center of the eyes, you'll want to start at the outer edge of the eyes and blend back to the temples. This will give the illusion of a slightly wider face.

If you have an oval-shaped face, you're kind of lucky because just about any way you put on your blush (or wear your hair) is going to look pretty good. I'm oval-shaped, and I like to apply my blush similar to the round-shaped face should (from the corner of the mouth, diagonally up towards the top of the ear) but I do something a little different - I apply it just underneath the cheekbone instead of actually on the cheekbones. This gives the illusion of slightly sunken-in cheeks, instantly taking five pounds off my face.

I swear I'm not naked in this picture - I have on a strapless bridesmaid dress.

For a long face, the idea is to try to widen it. Applying the blush on the apples of the cheeks, straight back in a horizontal line to the ear will widen the face perfectly.

And finally, we come to the heart-shaped (if you have a widow's peak) or upside-down triangle-shaped face. Women with this shape seem to have the most difficult time applying their blush. For this shape, you'll want to apply your blush just like the round shape - start at the apples on the cheekbones and apply diagonally back toward the tops of the ears. Then, you'll want to sweep the blush softly up the temples and even slightly over the eyebrows. This sounds nuts, but try it out - it will help balance the wideness of your forehead against your narrow jawline and pointy chin.

If you're really not sure what exactly your face shape is, push your hair back with a headband so you can see the entire outline of your face. Grab a tube of lipstick you don't wear very often, and stand directly in front of the mirror and draw the outline you see reflected. Take a step back - that should give you a better idea as to what face shape you are and help figure out how you need to apply your blush.

I'll make my next post on what colors I recommend for each skin tone, and which ones I really love, so be sure to check back in the next few days for that one!

Nude Lipsticks

As I've stated before, my loyalties have been with red lipstick for the better part of the last ten years. I'll occasionally toss in some hot pink, too, but red is where my heart is. But seeing as I'm going to try to go more natural with my makeup in 2010, I'm going to have to cut down wearing my red lipstick to maybe three days a week. That sounds reasonable, right? For the other four days, I'm going to wear natural, nude lips, I promise! I did this yesterday, and I got so many compliments on the lipstick I was wearing (I'll tell you later on!). A lady actually bought the lipstick I was wearing because she liked it so well. So maybe that nude lip that I've always liked on other people and hated on myself looks a lot better than I realized. I've researched some nude lipsticks and lip glosses and tried out a lot of them recently in my quest to go more natural, so here are some of my top picks.

First up is Lancome's Color Design Lipstick in Natural Beauty ($22). This is the lipstick that I was wearing yesterday when the lady decided she liked it so well, she wanted a tube for herself. It's a creamy nude that has great staying power. I apologize that I can't find a picture of it, but just so you know, it's perfectly nude without being too pink or too orange, and it's got the perfect amount of color payoff. With Natural Beauty, I wear Lancome's Le Lipstique Lipliner in Bronzelle ($23.50) and for a little sparkle and shine, Lancome's La Laque Fever in Gold Glimmer ($26.50). Bronzelle is a nude liner that's just a touch deeper than Natural Beauty, so it's perfect for giving just a little bit of definition to the lip line. Gold Glimmer is a clear long-wearing lipgloss that has tons of pretty gold sparkles in it.

Another nude lipstick I found that I really like is Clinique's High Impact Lipstick in Nude Beach ($14). It gives a full-color payoff that's creamy and lasts all day. It's got a touch more brown than Natural Beauty, making it a good choice for deeper skintones.

I'm already a fan of Nars Lipstick ($24), but I've found that Belle du Jour is my new favorite shade. It's a sheer beigey nude that looks good on just about everyone.

Look closely - the model below is wearing Nars Belle du Jour.

Lorac's Breakthrough Performance Lipstick in Nude Scene ($22) is a perfect, shiny nude that looks amazing on Debra Messing.

My last pick is Too Faced's Lip of Luxury Lipstick in Totally Nude. It's another creamy nude that looks good on everyone, and it's super shiny all by itself. An added plus: the case is so pretty, with a giant rhinestone on top.

Is there a nude lipstick you love? Let me know - I want to try it out!

2010 Resolutions

I know I'm a few days late, but I've been really giving my New Year's Resolutions a lot of thought. I have come up with a few things that I'm going to resolve to do. I'm not really interested in saying, "I'm going to lose 25 pounds," or "I'm going to work out every single day." First off, making a resolution like that would be setting myself up for failure. As far as health goes, I'm resolving to cut back on the cheesy, chocolatey, fried foods that have been a staple in my diet. Now, notice I said 'cut back' - not cut out. Because I've learned that depriving myself ruins the whole thing. I'm going to work on adding in more fruits and vegetables. Maybe instead of grabbing a cookie when I'm having a sweet craving, I'll eat an apple instead.

As far as my beauty resolutions go, washing my face thoroughly every single night is one of them. Every once in a while I will go to bed, forgetting to wash my face. This is a terrible habit that I tell my clients every single day not to do. Forgetting to wash your face leaves all the yucky makeup on, clogging your pores causing breakouts and dulls the skin. If you're lazy and don't feel like standing at the sink to wash your face, keep a package of Estee Lauder's Take It Away Makeup-Removing Wipes ($17.50) in your bedside drawer. When you're in bed, you can just pull one out and wipe away all your makeup, even mascara and eyeliner.

That being said, washing your face with a cleanser and water benefits you more because the warm water opens up pores, purging them of dirt and grime. As far as dry skin goes (you're dry if you don't ever get any oily patches and your skin can get tight and sometimes flaky), you'll want to use something gentle that will still take off makeup. DDF Non-Drying Gentle Cleanser ($32) is a very creamy cleanser that gently removes makeup and environmental impurities in the skin.

Clinique's Foaming Mousse Cleanser ($20) is a very lightweight, instant-foaming cleanser that quickly washes everything off the skin. Another bonus - because it's a liquid that instantly foams when you pump it, you just need one tiny pump of cleanser, so the bottle lasts forever and ever. Sweet! That helps save some money in the New Year, another little resolution of mine.

If you have normal/combination skin, you've probably got a little oil through the T-Zone (the forehead down the nose and chin) and your cheeks probably aren't really either oily or dry. Fresh's Soy Face Cleanser ($15) is a gentle, soap-free cleanser that takes everything away without leaving any grimy residue. Lancome's Creme Radiance ($24) is a creamy foaming cleanser that takes everything off and leaves the ski

n feeling squeaky clean.

If you have oily skin, you've more than likely got oil all over the face, not just in the T-Zone. Oily-skinned people (like me) tend to break out a little bit more often because the pores can get clogged up with excess oil and dirt. Kate Somerville's Purifying Exfoliating Cleanser ($32) lathers up and removes oil, dirt, makeup, and any other impurities on the skin, while also helping to slough off dead skin that dulls the complexion and builds up in the pores, causing more breakouts. If you are broken out, Korres' Thyme and Sage Facial Gel Cleanser ($21) is plant-derived and all-natural, perfect for skin that breaks out from fragranced products or other unnatural ingredients. Another great option is Clinique's Liquid Facial Soap for Oily Skin

($15) which dispense the perfect amount in one pump and removes everything from oily skin.

There is one other product that I'm so obsessed with it's ridiculous, and that's Lancome's Huile Douceur ($34.50). It's a cleansing oil that works perfectly for any skin type and it removes absolutely everything from the skin. I was scared of it at first because it really looks like a bottle filled with vegetable oil. The great thing is it takes everything off and doesn't leave a greasy residue. All you do is put a little on dry fingers and massage it into the skin, and even around the eyes because it takes off eye makeup (including waterproof). After you've got it rubbed all over the skin well, you just dampen your fingers a little and rub that water in - miraculously, the oil will actually lather up. Then, you just splash away the lather and rinse it all off and your skin is clean, refreshed, and super smooth. An added bonus - Huile Douceur smells unbelievable.

Another resolution of mine is to moisturize! I have super oily skin, and a lot of moisturizers can feel too heavy to wear during the day under my makeup. I will say, though, that I love Clinique's Moisture Surge (reference back to my post about good moisturizers I recommend). That's one I can put on under my makeup and it will still look perfectly smooth and won't get shiny throughout the day. I've learned something - moisturized skin always looks younger, more luminous, and more healthy. And always use a moisturizer at night - you lose three times more moisture in your sleep than you do during the day when you're awake. Why? Because you're asleep, so you're not drinking anything usually that's helping bring moisture into your skin. So slap on some moisturizer!

Drinking more water is another beauty resolution of mine. I watched a special study on drinking water and how it affects your skin, and some scientists and dermatologists have stated that drinking water doesn't actually clear up acne or breakouts. But, it does provide the body and skin with lots and lots of much-needed moisture. Bottoms up!

My last big beauty resolution is to go more natural. In high school, I did the natural thing. But once I got to college and in the years since, I've always gone for super-dramatic makeup. I've worn all the bright colors of eyeshadows and lipsticks, bold designs on my eyes, anything and everything you can imagine. I've drawn inspiration from ads for MAC and Makeup Forever and tried their unique, interesting, and bold looks on my own face. I don't just do this when I'm going out, I wear this look during the daytime, too. Of course, I can probably get away with more than the average person because I work at a makeup counter that has a lot of bold, bright colors, but I'm feeling the need to simplify a little bit and wear my makeup lighter. I want to have fresh, bright, radiant skin. I want to have naturally blushing cheeks. I want my eyes to look bright and wide awake. These women below are some of my inspiration for a fresh natural look that I'm going to try to emulate more this year. And don't worry, I won't ever give up my red lipstick, no matter how natural I go.

I love Zooey Deschanel's matte, flawless skin, nude lips, and super long lashes.

Scarlett Johansson's skin is so radiant and glowing - gorgeous.

Sandra Bullock's look is a little more dramatic than the rest because of her rimmed eyes and rosy blush, but the pale pink lipstick looks natural and the perfect finish to her look.

Reese Witherspoon's look is amazing, and I feel very lucky because my skin tone is very similar to hers. I love that she's groomed her brows perfectly, added a light pink blush, and her makeup is pretty much natural aside from that great red lipstick. Beautiful!

You might not recognize this girl, but it's Nikki Reed, of Twilight and New Moon fame. She plays a pale, light blonde vampire, but I think this red carpet look is a million times better. Her skin looks luminous and fresh, and that little touch of dark eyeliner finishes the look.

Natalie Portman is the epitome of fresh-faced beauty. She's a modern-day Audrey Hepburn, whose skin is always flawless. Love her!

French actress Marion Cotillard (of La Vie En Rose fame) looks gorgeous with her rosy full lips and light eyeshadow.

Mandy Moore never fails to have bright, dewy skin and a radiant smile.

Liv Tyler's super-natural look shows off her flawless skin and amazing smile.

"Glee" actress Lea Michele goes glam with a bronzy blush and extra thick eyelashes with otherwise natural makeup. So pretty.

Twilight and New Moon actress Kristen Stewart proves that all-natural and low-maintenance is beautiful.

"Nip/Tuck" actress Kelly Carlson keeps looking young and fresh with smooth, flawless skin, perfectly arched brows, and shiny lips.

Katherine Heigl is forever looking luminous and glowy with perfect skin. I love the long, dark lashes and pale pink lips she wears here. This is a great look for everyday.

Kate Winslet is yet another natural beauty with fresh skin, defined eyes, and shiny lips. She can do no wrong.

Kate Bosworth is the kind of pretty that almost makes you want to puke. Her skin looks amazing here, and she's finished off her look with black eyeliner, mascara, and the prettiest flushing cheeks.

How could you not include Jennifer Aniston on a list of the most gorgeous celebrities who wear very natural makeup? She's hit her forties now and still manages to look very young because of her perfect skin.

I love when Across the Universe actress Evan Rachel Woods ditches the dark, dramatic hair and makeup and goes natural. Everything about her face is absolutely perfect, and this lighter look shows it off much better.

Ellen Pompeo of "Grey's Anatomy" looks incredible with her smooth skin, lined eyes, and natural lips. She looks just as hot on the show with her scrubs on, too.

Cate Blanchett is a spokesperson for SK-II skincare, and although I've never tried their products, they must pay off because her skin looks incredible.

Camilla Belle's a gorgeous throwback to old Hollywood glamour with her absolutely flawless, matte skin, super defined, dark eyebrows, and bright red lipstick. Even without the red lipstick, she looks like sheer perfection.

My final muse is Audrey Hepburn. Although this look pictured below isn't quite that natural, what with the super dark eyelilner, she exuded such elegance and glamour that so many women aspire to. Not just her outer appearance were impressive, either - her work for UNICEF continues to inspire me.

I'll leave you with some famous words from Audrey Hepburn. Best wishes in 2010!

"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

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles." - Audrey Hepburn