natural beauty Archives - Illuminate Beauty

Beauty Basics Illuminator 101

JoEllen — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 14:00:45 +0000

Beauty Basics Illuminator 101

Welcome to Beauty Basics Illuminator 101! What is illuminator and why should you wear it?? I’m going to show you why you need to do this very simple step in your makeup routine!

Why

Why do you need to wear illuminator? Illuminator adds some brightness to your face and makes it glow…in a good way! By adding a little shimmer, it will add a nice dimension to your face. It’s not a little girl sparkle shimmer, but a nice glistening glow that looks natural. You don’t want to appear flat and by applying illuminator you can add some easy depth.

Where

I like to focus on 3 main areas when applying illuminator:

Above your cheekbone- take your finger and dip it into the illuminator and simply apply it to the top of your cheekbone, focusing on the top part, nearest your eye.
Bow of your lip- add just a little bit of illuminator right at the part of your lip that is directly under your nose, the bow.
Below your brow- dab some illuminator just below your brow to make that area shine.

And that’s it! See how easy that step is?! You really can’t mess up! This is an easy step but one that just polishes the look off nicely!

Want to learn other beauty basics?

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Kiwi Gal Before and After

JoEllen — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 13:00:14 +0000

Kiwi Gal Before and After

One of the best things that happens from doing makeovers on others is getting to spend some one on one time together and getting to know that person. I’ve been able to get to know lots of women in New Zealand and they are all so unique, beautiful, and kind. I’m sure you can find that anywhere in the world! Here is a kiwi gal before and after that I did recently.

Meet Jenny. Her daughter is in my daughter’s class at school and it’s been fun getting to know her! And it really is amazing how small our world is because she is related to a few women that I go to church with. Jenny doesn’t normally wear lots of makeup so I wanted to give her a natural makeup look. A look that makes her feel beautiful without layering on all the products and something she can easily reproduce in her home.

I applied a thin layer of highlight under her eyes, on her chin, on her nose, and on her forehead. Olive is a great neutral contour color and I brushed it onto her cheekbones, along her jaw, and near her hairline. She didn’t want a bright pink cheek so we settled for desert sunset which gave her a little flush to her apples without being too overwhelming. We used the same color on her lips. She likes using browns on her lids, so I used some nice shades that gave her a natural look. I used a light brown to fill in her brows and help frame her face. After a light layer mascara we were done!

Products Used

Highlight: amber

Contour: olive

Blush: desert sunset

Illuminator: illuminator

Eyeshadow: basic, trust, sabrina

Brows: oak

Lips: dessert sunset

30 Second HAC Brush

I Shadow Everything Brush

Multitasker Brush

IIID Perfector Sponge

I love how simple Maskcara makeup is to use, how it enhances a woman’s natural beauty, and how it makes a woman feel!

Want to see another fun makeover? Click here!

Interested in purchasing some makeup? Click here!

Not sure what colors to use? Send us a picture of yourself without your makeup on, taken in natural lighting. Or you can take our free color matching quiz here!

The post Kiwi Gal Before and After appeared first on Illuminate Beauty.

New Mom Before and After

JoEllen — Thu, 28 Sep 2017 13:00:58 +0000

New Mom Before and After

Meet Helen! She’s a mom to 3 beautiful girls. She just had her third girl a few weeks ago…at home and totally not planned that way! She’s a rockstar! Being a mom of a newborn leaves you feeling extra tired and with little time to think about yourself as you’re constantly nursing, changing diapers, cleaning, cooking, and chasing after your other littles. Mom life is not glamorous but it is definitely rewarding! I wanted to give Helen a quick and easy look that she can easily do to make herself look beautiful on the outside, because she certainly is a beauty on the inside! Here’s a new mom before and after look…

Helen was blessed with pretty freckles and we didn’t want to cover up that natural beauty. So I used a light hand and focused the highlight mainly under her eyes to cover up the sleepless nights. Her freckles still shine through beautifully! I used olive as her contour because it is such a versatile contour color! It brought out her cheekbones nicely and gave her some good shape to her face. Pink Grapefruit is also a great versatile color and brought a nice flush to her cheeks. She has pretty blue eyes so I went with some brown eyeshadow colors to bring out those blues. A thin coat of mascara gave her some natural looking black lashes. By using a light brown eyeshadow color and the Multitasker Brush, I filled in her brows to give them more definition and to help frame her face. We topped the look off with a light color on her lips and she was done!

This is a great natural look that gave this new mom a fresh & easy pick me up. This makeup is so versatile and can be applied lightly or heavily…depending on the look you want!

Products Used

Highlight: sunlit

Contour: olive

Blush: pink grapefruit

Illuminator: illuminator

Eyeshadow: bubba, bright eyes, sabrina

Brows: oak

Lips: dessert sunset

30 Second HAC Brush

I Shadow Everything Brush

Multitasker Brush

IIID Perfector Sponge

Want to see another fun makeover? Click here!

Interested in purchasing some makeup? Click here!

Not sure what colors to use? Send us a picture of yourself without your makeup on, taken in natural lighting. Or you can take our free color matching quiz here!

The post New Mom Before and After appeared first on Illuminate Beauty.

How to Get the Best Brows

JoEllen — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 14:00:50 +0000

How to Get the Best Brows

Do you want to get the best brows?! Let’s talk! So often, women do a marvelous job with their makeup but then completely forget to top their look off by managing their brows! Eyebrows can really make or break your look. Let me show you some brow tips and tricks that will make you feel like a million bucks. This is how to get the best brows!

Shape

To get the best brows you must (must!) have your brows nicely shaped. Some of us are blessed with big bushy brows and some of us not so much. And some of us have tweezed those bad boys til there isn’t much left! No matter which category you fall in, you still must make sure you have a nice shape to your eyebrows. How can you do this? You can pay someone a small investment to get your brows waxed, threaded, or tweezed to get them started off with a nice shape. You can continue to pay for their maintenance on a regular schedule or learn to maintain them on your own. Already have a nice shape? Then make sure to keep those brows looking good. Remember that your eyebrows are sisters, not twins! You don’t need to make them identical & symmetrical. They should coordinate, not match.

Home Maintenance

You can learn to maintain and upkeep your eyebrows on your own. Once you have a nice shape that will complement your face, then it’s important to keep them looking good! What do you need to do?

Invest in a good pair of tweezers and learn to tweeze the proper way. When tweezing, make sure to grab the hair and pull in the direction of the hair growth. This will allow for the hair to come out nice and smooth without causing irritation to the skin or breakage of the hair. Keep tabs on those pesky stragglers and tweeze often. There’s nothing worse than having beautifully shaped brows sprinkled with loose, crazy fur.

After you are up to date on your tweezing, now it’s time to keep your brows trimmed! Just like you need regular haircuts, your eyebrows need to be trimmed frequently. Purchase some small eyebrow trimmers and a wand. Together these tools will help you comb and trim your brows so they don’t become unruly. It’s such an easy but essential step to ensure your brows are fabulous!

Make sure your brows start and end in the right places. Take a thin makeup brush (or pencil) and hold it vertically in your hand. Hold the brush right along the bridge of your nose, up past your brow. Your brow should start here. Now take your brush and hold it diagonally under your nose, to the outside corner of your eye, to your eyebrow. This is where your brow should end. Do it to both brows. This is a quick and easy way to determine how long your brows should be so they fit your face well.

Makeup Your Brows

Makeup on your brows? You better believe it! It’s amazing the difference a little color to your brows can do for your face! Once your brows are nicely shaped and maintained, then you need to apply a little brown to those brows to give them a nice definition. With just 2 things, you can make your brows look like a runway model’s!

You’ll need some brown eyeshadow or contour that closely matches your brow color and the Hotline Brush or the Mulitasker Brush. Then you apply the color into your brows to fill them in. Simply follow the shape of your brows and add some color. Use motions that mimic the growth of hair. That’s it! Brows help frame your face so this is a simple way to give your brows a little pick me up.

With those simple steps, that’s how to get the best brows! Such simple steps that should not be neglected in any beauty routine!

Want to learn how to get the best face…in 3 minutes? Click here!

The post How to Get the Best Brows appeared first on Illuminate Beauty.

5 Essential Skin Care Steps

JoEllen — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 14:00:45 +0000

5 Essential Skin Care Steps

We all want beautiful skin. Some of us have acne prone skin, some have dry, oily, or textured. No matter what type of skin you were blessed with, we all need to take good care of it! I’m a licensed aesthetician so skin care is really important to me. When I follow these 5 essential skin care steps, I feel more beautiful and my skin glows.

Step 1- Cleanse

It is so important to cleanse your skin daily! It’s ideal to cleanse morning & night, but it is essential to cleanse your skin at night. Ever since I went to skin care school, a night has not gone by that I haven’t cleansed my face….for real!! Think about how much dirt, grim, dust, sweat, and makeup that has accumulated on your skin throughout the day. You do not want to go to bed with that gunk settling in even more! Wash your face so you can have a nice clean face and your skin can renew itself while you sleep. Maskcara’s Milk Cleanser is top notch and oh so good for your skin!

Step 2- Exfoliate

Exfoliating your skin helps slough off the dead skin cells, remove product buildup, increases your blood circulation, and leaves your skin feeling nice and smooth. It is not necessary to exfoliate your face everyday day, in fact it can irritate it if you do. But simply exfoliate once to a few times a week to ensure that your skin is nice and smooth and healthy.

I personally like to use a simple homemade recipe of coconut oil & baking soda. It makes a great exfoliant that everyone already has in their cupboard.

Step 3- Tone

Say what?! What is the purpose of toner? This is a very underrated step in the skin care process and one that needs to make its way into your life! Toning can act as a second cleaning process. By taking a cotton pad and your toner, you wipe your face to get the excess dirt & makeup off. It also helps minimize your pore size and balances your skin’s natural pH level.

Maskcara’s Milk Toner is amazing! Or I like to use good ol’ apple cider vinegar (with the mother). Some toners have alcohol in them and this can be really drying for your skin. Whether you use a homemade recipe, something from your cupboard, or a toner from the drugstore make sure to tone your face once a day (I do it at night).

Step 4- Moisturize

Just like your body needs water to drink, your skin needs moisturizer to stay hydrated. Your skin is thirsty and needs to have that extra moisture to thrive. Make sure to moisturize your face in your daily routine, whether once or twice a day. A common misconception is that women who have oily skin don’t need to moisturize…wrong! Oily skin is still thirsty. You just may need to moisturize once a day instead of twice.

Maskcara Milk is an excellent moisturizer! I especially love it under my eyes. I also love to use pure coconut oil. I lather it on my face at night and let my skin hydrate while I’m sleeping. Either options are great!

Step 5- Spot Treatment

All of us are cursed with pesky pimples at some time in our life. The important thing is learning how to treat them. Sometimes it’s best to leave them alone, but if you must squeeze them, then make sure to gently use your two pointer fingers wrapped in tissue to avoid getting oil, dirt, or bacteria into the exposed area. Once you’re done, use a benzoyl peroxide ointment or some other acne treatment cream to spot treat the area.

I like to use an essential oil blend for those blemishes.

Those are my 5 essential skin care steps that I use and think you should too! Nobody’s skin is perfectly flawless, but if you take good care of your skin then it will glow!

Click here to see some of my favorite beauty products.

You’ve seen how I take care of my skin, wanna see how I put on a quick face? Click here!

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