My mother would drop me off at CVS and I would grab a candy bar (cause I was an emotional eater; and I love candy) and a diet coke and spend two hours sitting in the isles looking at products, reading ingredients. I wanted to understand how this product was going to make me beautiful, that was the promise; so how.

Over the years I have found that one important part of makeup is skin care. Clients expect makeup to take years of bad skin care, no sunscreen, bad eating habits, no moisturizer (which is insane) and wish it to magically be concealed with one product alone.

Makeup can only do so much, ladies and gentlemen. Makeup can do quite a bit, but one fact is true, Makeup is only as good as your skin. That is so simple, slightly harsh but the truth. Women ask me all the time”can’t makeup hide my wrinkles and blemishes”. Unfortunately, no it can not. Makeup can only hide color and/or discoloration. Makeup can actually enhance the look of wrinkles and blemishes if you’re not careful. Only professional lighting and camera tricks can hide wrinkles, pimples and scars. So if you not walking around with a full lighting and camera crew, you must take care of your skin.

Cleanse, exfoliate, tone, serum, moisturizer, eye cream and spf to keep the skin in optimum condition. If you don’t, failed attempts at corrective makeup can make you look older and enhance the look of problem skin. In the advances of makeup and skincare there are some products that can help smooth out the skin and simulate improved skin temporarily. Try products that go on before makeup to smooth the surface so that makeup looks more even.

Primers can help smooth out skin because of the Silicone content. Silicone based primers also help foundation stay on for hours. Primer can coat a blemish or scar so foundation or powder glide over the top easier and don’t grab onto texture. I really like MAC’s Prep and Prime Face, but I truly love MAC’s Fast Eye Response Cream. Fast Eye was made for the de-puffing and smoothing of the eye area but it works better than almost any primer I have ever used. Caffeine (reduces swelling), Silicone and light diffusing particles make for the perfect primer, patted on top of a scar or blemish to help smooth the appearance, fantastic. I use Fast Eye Response as a primer daily.

One of My favorite TV channels is HSN. Go ahead and laugh, many have before. Home shopping networks are not what they used to be in the days where you imagine little old ladies sitting at home in flowered muumuu’s ordering fake diamonds and porcelain cat figurines. Now you are able to buy top quality products with no middle man. Sure, you may find less attractive packaging but only on exchange for fantastic values. One of my Favorite hosts on HSN is Adrienne; under Signature A. (Adrienne has been a makeup artist to the stars for years and use to carry her products in all major department stores) Adrienne develops fantastic quick fix products for women. My favorite of all time Signature Club A by Adrienne Secret C Rapid Lift. This product is a face-lift in a bottle. It pulls back that double chin, or “turkey neck” and smoothes out those wrinkles under the eye. It literally hides dropping lids and mouth lines. This is temporary but while it is on it will make you appear younger and for makeup artists, their job easier by smoothing out the canvas we work on. I have tried dozens of products that claim the same results, NEVER! Some don’t work well with makeup on top and some flake. Secret C Rapid Lift also is great under makeup as primer. Make sure to smooth on and massage back and in an upward motion as you want the face to look. This will assist the serum in lifting properly.

Last but not least, another favorite product of mine is Erase Those Fine Lines, by Model Co, This product also can give you the temporary appearance of a face lift. This product has amazing long term benefits it’s a bit pricey, however the temporary lift is worth it.

That is all for now. Here’s to hoping the next Cosmo we order gets us carded.

Have a happy day
JC