One of my “Favorite Things Right Now” is contouring cheeks with a dark brown eye shadow (Wenge by TRUE Cosmetics) and highlighting with a peachy shimmer (Apricot blush by TRUE Cosmetics) for a natural and defined spring/summer look.  The trick is this Shadow Diffuser brush, which is a shape that I haven’t found elsewhere and TRUE equates to a fan brush.  It’s soft and fluffy which is great for blending or applying a light wash of color to eyes or cheeks.  When contouring cheeks, hold the brush horizontally so that the thin rectangular shape creates a nice line along the hollow of the cheek (from your ear to the corner of your mouth).  Then, highlight by holding the brush vertically and sweeping the wide end along the cheekbone, making sure to overlap with the contour line to blend.  It will also contour the sides of the nose and define a jawline nicely.

We recently worked up this chart for our Foundation Workshop as a guide to help you find which cosmetics are ideal for you based on skin type and desired coverage.  Our chart reflects products that we have here at Abundance, and below we have included a loose translation to help you use these guidelines with any cosmetics in your makeup bag.  Of course, there are many other types of foundation available today – creams, gels, mousse, you name it – so there is a lot of room to play.

A word on oily skin… when we refer to oily skin in this chart, we do not mean “I get a little shiny by the end of the day” – we mean seriously oily skin.  Typically we recommend mineral foundation for oily skin types, however you can still use Skin Tints if you use it in place of your standard morning moisturizer for light, non-greasy hydration (follow with powder or mineral foundation as usual…).

A note on concealing the under-eyes… We now offer both TRUE’s creamy under-eye concealer which is a trio (illuminator, salmon & yellow) as well as PRIORI’s CoffeeBerry Perfecting Concealer (in powder form).  Both are great to have in your makeup kit, but if you want to start out with just one, then I would pair creamy concealer with Skin Tints or powder concealer with mineral foundation.  If you wear both, then I would choose creamy concealer for more problematic under-eye circles, or the powder concealer for general brightening around the eyes.  PRIORI’s CoffeeBerry (powder) concealer is great on the eyelids too!  It evens out color nicely so that you look awake and wide-eyed.

Skin Tints = tinted moisturizer, or a very hydrating sheer liquid foundation formula

Mineral Foundation = mineral foundation (!)

Finishing Touch powder = a fine setting powder (non-mineral) that minimizes pores and reduces shine

Mineral Mist = a fine mist used to liquify and set mineral foundation, and hydrates with hyaluronic acid (do not attempt with water which is drying to the skin)

Our new favorite combo is Being TRUE Skin Tints tinted moisturizer with PRIORI CoffeeBerry Finishing Touch Powder.  You can see in the photo how Finishing Touch fills lines and pores and reduces shine while leaving a smooth, natural finish.    (Please excuse the amateur photography – we took this photo with a camera phone at one of our Lipstick Brunch events!).

Being TRUE Skin Tints can be applied with a flat, synthetic brush for a luminous finish, or with finger tips to work the product into the skin for slightly more coverage.  Skin Tints tinted moisturizer is incredibly hydrating from the hyaluronic acid, and yields sheer to medium coverage – lightly tap additional product where needed to build coverage and blend seamlessly.

PRIORI CoffeeBerry Finishing Touch Powder can be applied with any fluffy powder brush, and looks great alone or over makeup (liquid or powder).  Sweep Finishing Touch powder on top of foundation to minimize pores and achieve a matte finish (for oily skin, try prepping skin with Finishing Touch for a smoothing, anti-shine base under your mineral/powder foundation).

Check out our blog post about finding a foundation combo that works for your skin type and coverage needed.

Airbrushing is the ultimate in professional makeup ~ it is simply a tool, like a brush or sponge, used to apply foundation.  The beauty of airbrush is that it sprays micronized pigment onto the skin in itty bitty pixels that are invisible to the naked eye and “float” on the surface of the skin . . . this results in flawless coverage with less product, so it looks and feels natural.  Airbrush makeup is commonly used in TV and film because it is undetectable even with Hi-Def cameras.

Besides the amazing coverage, airbrushing is also hygienic ~ no fingers touching the face or risk of bacteria in brush bristles.  The airbrush system is two parts: the gun which sprays the product, and the compressor which controls the air pressure.  You can spray foundation, blush, brows, eye shadow, liner, lips ~ virtually anything.  Airbrush makeup is also used in spray tanning, tattoo cover, temporary tattoos and face/body painting.  Many brushes and foundation formulations promise an “airbrushed look” . . . why not get the real thing?

Abundance is pleased to offer airbrush makeup services to give you the best possible photo finish for any occasion in the spotlight.  Our Red Carpet Makeover pairs airbrush makeup with NuFace microcurrent treatment that lifts and sculpts the face.

**Photo courtesy of celebrity makeup artist Kimberley Bosso (pictured airbrushing Candace Cameron).

At Abundance, we’ve been singing the praises of hyaluronic acid for years, so we were pleased to see it get some public recognition in the article “Skin care’s new favorite ingredient: hyaluronic acid” by Alene Dawson for the Los Angeles Times.  According to Dawson, hyaluronic acid is the skincare industry’s newest buzzword ingredient ~ it has a smoothing, plumping effect that makes it a worthy addition to cosmetics; also, because it is naturally occurring and is identical whether human, animal or synthetic in origin, hyaluronic acid is a safe and effective ingredient for fillers such as Botox, Restylane, Perlane and Juvederm (which contain varying thicknesses of hyaluronic acid).  For more information on injectables and fillers, please consult our in-house Facial Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Greene.

Dawson’s source, Dr. Nowell Solish, Director of Dermatologic Surgery at University of Toronto, seems to disapprove of cosmetic companies riding the coattails of hyaluronic acid because, when applied topically, it doesn’t absorb into the skin and correct winkles, but simply fills, plumps  and smooths skin to reduce the appearance of wrinkles.  We emphatically say… What’s wrong with that?!  For people who aren’t in the market for fillers or noninvasive anti-wrinkle treatments such as glycolic/alpha-hydroxy acid exfoliation or GentleWaves LED Photomodulation, we see no problem whatsoever with instantaneous, albeit temporary, improvement in the skin!

Abundance has several products touting hyluronic acid ~ Epicuren’s Moisture Surge and DNA Skincare’s Zen Therapy Gel are almost pure hyaluronic acid and are used as a hydrator under your moisturizer, or as a stand alone moisturizer for oily skin… but we also like to use them as a foundation primer because it leaves a super smooth finish.  TRUE Cosmetics’ Skin Tints contain hyaluronic acid, making it more of a tinted moisturizer than a liquid foundation, and believe us when we tell you it lives up to the hype!  TRUE also uses hyaluronic acid in their Transforming Mineral Mist, which is used to set mineral foundation, making mineral powder more wearable for dry skin and those with a heavy-hand, but also serves as a refreshing pick-me-up anytime (think:  airplane… desert…).  PRIORI’s new Cellular Recovery and Epicuren’s Phyto Placenta Serum also contain this “buzzword” ingredient, although we prefer to think of hyaluronic acid as buzzworthy.