Brett Dorrian Artistry Studios

Friday, March 16, 2012

The Importance of SPF- Ask the Expert: Sabrina

Experts say the number one cause of skin damage and aging is sun exposure.

Starting from as little as when you’re a baby. You can get skin damage whether it's summer or winter, or cloudy or sunny. So, SPF should be worn year round. The deeper your tan is the more damage you’re doing to your skin.

To start, SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor. Basically, what it does is determines the amount of time you can stay in the sun before burning. So say you usually burn in about 10 minutes, if you wear SPF 15 you could stay in the sun approximately 15x longer. So 150 minutes before reapplying. However, it does not consider water or sweat and in those conditions should be applied more frequently.

When looking for SPF you should always consider your skin type- like whether you want a cream with more moisturizer or not. Also good things to consider are if the main ingredients are zinc oxide or titanium dioxide as these are natural mineral products with high protection and no chemicals.

One of my personal favorites for my face is Physical Fusion UV Defense by Skin Ceuticals. It has SPF 50 water/sweat resistant, paraban and chemical-filter free. Also it comes with a new universal tint!

Quick Teeth Whitening- Ask the Expert: Jamie

I read about this in an article, Anna Nichole Smith used to do this before she had a photo shoot. And I'm sure many other stars have used this little trick too!

All you need is some 35% Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide. (There are many kinds of hydrogen peroxide, make sure it is this kind!) You can order it online. (That is the only downfall to this trick, is that not very many places carry this product.)

This is a great product for Makeup Artists to carry around in their kit! It is also good for models, or anyone who is photographed regularly. And why not brides, too!! Or anyone who just wants to brighten up their smile!

All you need to do is saturate a cotton ball or Q-tip with the 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide and rub over each tooth. Let this stay on your teeth for about 5-10 minutes, and then rinse your mouth well. Your teeth will be noticeably whiter!

A Quick Tutorial on Types of Eyeliners- Ask the Expert: Sabrina

A lot of people sometimes have trouble with eyeliner. There are a few different options to try that all have pros and cons to their wear and application.

Pencil eyeliners have a tendency to skip but tend to be the easiest to control; however depending on what type of pencil they are, they also can smear.

Cream liners can be applied with a brush and are smooth to apply. But, the product tends to dry out fast.

Liquid liner is the most difficult to apply since you need a steady hand and it’s not very forgiving. It will provide the most dramatic effect.

Some people have trouble with their eyeliners running, or smearing. A couple things to try are a nice eye primer. I like urban decays eye primer, “eye potion.” Also try setting your liner with a powder over the top.

Eyes that POP! - Ask the Expert: Jamie

Have you ever been getting ready to go out for a night on the town, and you do your hair and makeup but you still feel like your makeup just doesn't have that “oomph” that you were looking for? Well here's a little trick that will help bump up your look.

Below are instructions for a version of the "Twiggie" look.

Essentially what you will do is paint on lashes at the outer corner of your eyes. You can do your makeup as you normally would. Then with a black liquid eyeliner (this doesn't work well with pencil), start painting your line at the base of the lash line almost to the very outer corner, but not quite all the way, paint it curving upward toward your temple diagonally, mocking an eyelash. This will be your longest line.

Following that first line paint two to three more lines in the same manner, but stagger them moving toward the center of the lash line. Stay close to each previous line, and make each one shorter than the last. Then you will move to the bottom lash line and repeat the steps, but have the lines curving downward and make these even shorter than the top.

If you are worried that you may not have the steadiest hand for this application, then try this with a smokey eye. The "lashes" will blend in and have more of a subtle look.

Here's to eyes that POP!!

Say Goodbye to Under Eye Issues - Ask the Expert: Sabrina

The “how to” on helping with dark under eye circles.

Whether you wake up with them occasionally or daily, under eye dark circles are hard to cover and hard to deal with. There are a few different causes: dehydration, diet, allergies, lack of sleep, and genetics.

A couple traditional home remedies that will definitely help are cold cucumbers or cold tea bags placed on the eyes for 10-15 minutes a day. Also eye creams with vitamin k and retinol help to reduce puffiness and discoloration.

If your dark circles simply never go away the next step is to conceal them. Try using a concealer slightly lighter than your base foundation with a slight pink or peach undertone to help cover. Apply very gently all the way to lash line with brush or light fingertip. You can also apply a white liner to the inside lower lashline to give the allusion of being brighter. Then continue
with the rest of your makeup application.

Resources:

www.wikihow.com

www.about.com

www.ehow.com