To the Beach 2010

“The seaside has a kind of golden, sexy alchemy we’re all drawn to. This collection encapsulates it with the most soothing, sultry shades of summertime. A safe way to bronze, beautify, and get colour that looks sun-kissed. Close your eyes, and go To The Beach!” -M.A.C.

I want all of these colors!!!

… and now check out some M.A.C. inspired make up that is oh so fem-fATL

"Firecracker"

"Rosemary and Thyme"

"Sand and Sun"

"Sweet and Punchy"

"Temperature Rising"

"To the Beach"

"Easy Lounger"

My favorite look here is “Sweet and Punchy” and “Temperature Rising”, minus the heavy blush… I am definitely going to test these ideas out.  If any of you try these looks out, make sure to send pix to justb@fem-fatl.com!!!

Check out my CHERRY lip stain for Geisha Photo Shoot

MAC lip stain markers look and feel just like magic markers… MAKE UP/ART/COSMETICS.  Now you can really apply art to your face!  They have a felt-like tip that dispenses the lip stain liquid which … guess what?!? stains your lips… lol. I had never had a stain done before the photo shoot, but I loved it!  My lips felt like a Candy Apple!!!  MAC has lip stain markers in a variety of shades that go well anytime of the year, but especially the summer time because girls typically like to appear as if they are wearing less make up. Tip: Go darker than you think you might want because the lip stain wears fairly sheer.

MAC LipStain Colors that are HOT for the summer

Lip stains are great for a natural look because they can go on sheer and light, adding just enough color to your lips without looking like you have anything on.  However, they can leave your lips  feelin dry.  I like lathering on some lip gloss for a shinier look.  To apply a lip stain, just apply stain marker in your color preference, then lip pencil and gloss.

These really feel like markers going on your lips!!! I like red the best.

Photography by @Futurista & @Proski

Photography by @Futurista & @Proski

Photography by @Futurista & @Proski

Photography by @Futurista & @Proski

Photography by @Futurista & @Proski

Photography by @Futurista & @Proski

Photography by @Futurista & @Proski

I love switching things up from time to time, and Spring is the perfect time to do just that- shed the layers of clothes, the dark makeup, and definitely switch up the hair. I had been sporting a black mane for a while now. I’ve been trying to grow my hair out for the last two years it seems, but I’m terrible at maintenance and every time I go to the salon to get a trim, I end up back where I started (shoulder length). Finally, I decided it was time for some big changes. After all, I’m finally closing a chapter of my life, graduating from my master’s program at Georgia Tech where I also did my undergrad. I’m moving on and starting new things. It’s the perfect time for a new look.

I use to change my hair every month it seems, but I really have gone a stretch with the same basic look. For my new do, I had Joy Tolentino (previously featured for her version of “Identity Crisis”) helped me with some major hair lightening. My new hair color is like a light golden + amber brown. This was a major task for hair stylist Joy Tolentino -> 6 hours to be exact. The big deal with lightening my hair is that previously to keep my hair looking exotic black, I would use a non-permanent black wash from time to time. My natural hair color is a dark dark brown, but it’s not the jet black that I really liked. When we were trying to lift my hair color, about half my hair would turn and the bottom half was staying black! Originally I wanted to go LIGHT. I really wanted a dramatic change, with blonde tones around my face. Joy did put in highlights around my face, but they will take some time and sunshine to come through. The outcome is a significant change that brings some golden tones to my face. I think I need a tan, but overall I’m happy with the new do. I feel kind of like I have a Leo’s mane and I like that.

To book an appointment with Joy:

Sweetgrass too
1643 McLendon Ave, Atlanta, GA 30307
Candler Park
(404) 377.7077

OPI Hong Kong Nail Polish Collection 2010

As we are approaching Spring and Summer, here is a new line from OPI that is definitely fem-fATL approved.  The color scheme is modern, bright, and flirty… and I love how the line is inspired by a touch of China!  These colors will look great in the sun light and will let your hands do the talking!!! 

I want the "a good man-darin is hard to find" color

Nail Polish Colors:Red my Fortune Cookie, Bling Dynasty, A Good Man-Darin is Hard to Find, Hot &Spicy, Chop-Sticking to my Story, Jade is the New Black, Suzy says Feng Shui, Dim Sum Plum, Panda-monium Pink, and Pearl of Wisdom

Sans Glasses

I’m not your average girly girl, although I’m quite the girly girl. I love fashion, the color pink, and high heels… but when it comes to maintaining girly-ness I’m like a do do bird. Grooming is just not something I’ve mastered like @ijustwannab and @urbansocial who have makeup and beauty tricks galore. Hair, makeup, nails… are just things I’m not good at taking the time to do or investing time to learn how to do! So I usually half ass it and learn how to do simple things that go a long way. I think that’s the tactic in all my beauty strategy: sticking to the basics. It’s not simple, and it’s not plain jane, it’s just playing up basic assets. So now a lesson in achieving my 5 minute everyday kind of fem-fATL beauty look.

The Staples.

the STAPLES

So before I get into any makeup I have a couple core requirements, all available at your neighborhood convenience store. My store of choice is obviously CVS! The basic idea here is lubrication! Before you put on any makeup you need to moisturize and freshen up your natural assets.

The first item on my list is LUBRICANT EYE DROPS. If you follow me on twitter at @jeniferv then you probably know that I am on my computer 24’7. What that does is that it makes my eyes incredibly dry and tired. I use eye drops to freshen up my eyes and work that sparkle back in and remove any redness. Removing redness in the eye is the primary reason for using any type of eye drop as a beauty tactic. Think about it… how how hot are blood shot eyes? or eyes with a yellowy tint? Not real hot! But beautiful clear eyes and white pupils are going to make your eyes pop more and look fresh. Eye drops -> your number one source for looking FRESH.

The second item on my list is CLASSIC CHERRY CHAP STICK. I don’t know about you, but my lips are always chapped! Damn it! And chapped lips/peeling lips just aren’t cute. It’s also not cute when you try to put lipstick over chapped lips and they start to look kind of clunky. So make sure to balm up those lips, keep them healthy, and get a chap stick with some sunscreen. I always put on a layer of chapstick before any type of lipstick to make a smooth base.

The third item on my list of basics is FACE CREAM. I always start the day by washing my face and putting a shit load of face cream on. It’s lotion for your face. I really don’t know what type of skin I have, but lately I’ve been using the dry skin cream pictured that I picked up from CVS and it’s been working like a charm. I also pile on the face cream at night before I go to sleep. You might have to find a lotion that suits your skin so that you don’t end up looking oily all the time because too much shine will draw unwanted attention to assets like your forehead or nose. Lotion is the key to having great skin and great skin is the best beauty trick of all. If you put foundation on top of dry or flaky skin, it’s like having chapped lips, its going to show and look clunky. So face cream for president!

The basics.

the BASICS

Okay now we can get into some actual makeup. For me my everyday look is pretty light even thought I wear almost every makeup item. The key to looking beautiful is again beautiful skin, and if you don’t have beautiful skin, then it’s faking it! So the basics is actually the base or your foundation. If you are taking care of your skin and using that face cream like I said, then you can go most days without any type of foundation. However, even using a light powder, like BARE ESSENTIALS loose mineral power (another basic item not featured) will help to make your skin look more even.

My basic foundation items consist of two elements REVLON COLORSTAY FOUNDATION in NATURAL TAN and SONIA KASHUK SHIMMERING LOOSE MINERAL BLUSH in FAIRY. Along the way I have picked up on some beauty secrets from the fem-fATL beauty experts and the key to makeup is BRUSHES. So ladies if you aren’t already using brushes to apply your makeup and you want to make an investment in yourself, go buy a pack of brushes. They don’t come cheap, especially if you into keeping it all M.A.C. but if you are like me and go for a less costly alternative… I’m a huge fan of the Sonia Kashuk line at Target. I like all her makeup and she has a great line of brushes. For my foundation I use Sonia Kashuk® Nylon Foundation Brush 15 pictured on the right. I’ve found a foundation brush to be a really amazing tool. I never knew to use a brush to paint on your foundation, but it helps to make everything even and smooth. I even use my brush to put on my face cream!

So my basic makeup routine is to use my foundation brush to put on a light layer of foundation. Then I use a blush brush and a pretty pink shimmery blush on my cheeks following my cheek bones. I also swoop a little bit of blush just under my eyebrow. Sine your brow is one of the highest points of your face, the light will hit your brow first. Putting some shimmery blush there will create a nice glow effect. Also as you will see, I don’t do any eye shadow, so this is just a light application working in effect like eye shadow.

The essentials.

the ESSENTIALS

Now for the essentials! As I mentioned, for my everyday look, I don’t do any eyeshadow. The main reason is that I suck at mixing eyeshadow and applying it. So instead I opp out and let eye liner stand alone. When you have a very neutral palette, black eyeliner pops out more. I work the classic fem-fATL catty eye, lining my top and bottom lids. For the top eyeliner the trick is to keep your line super thin. Everyone always thinks that you need to create a very thick line to get that frenchy look, but a super thin and precise line works and is lovely. I use COVERGIRL PERFECT POINT PLUS in BLACK ONYX. It has to be the best eyeliner ever. Sometimes if I’m going for a really careful line, I’ll use a liquid liner for the top, but I kind of suck at it! For the bottom line, I keep it really light for the day time. I do a thin line and then almost wipe away some of it to make the white lining of my eye still visible.

After eyeliner comes the lashes! Oh how important lashes are! I use COVERGIRL LASHBLAST in BLACK. If I remember, I make sure to use a lash curler and curl my lashes. Curled lashes look way better and really make a difference. If you don’t believe me, test it out yourself. They curl up the lashes revealing more of your beautiful white pupils and give you a flirty look. After curling I’ll put on a generous amount of mascara on the top lashes and then a very quick application to the lower lashes. Wa- la!

Now for my ultimate essential is fem-fATL PINK lipstick! Because my look is super simple, I go with a daring lipstick to mix things up. For my everyday look I like wearing a a super deep pink like MAYBELLINE COOL WATERMELON, which is the pink I wear to achieve my fem-fATL look. However, I’ll also go with other bold colors like red, oranges, purple tones, or even black (when that was in over the winter).

Glasses are a part of my everday beauty scheme.

Finally, my fem-fATL look includes a smart pair of black D&G FRAMES, which I have to include because I wear them everyday! I think the reason I go so light on the makeup is because my eyeglasses already draw attention and frame the rest of my features. Yay for sexy teacher glasses.

And that’s all folks!

I have this saying, “I would have been cool in the nineties!” If only I were born in the 70s, then I could have been in my prime during the 90s instead of a little kid. Instead here I am, adoring the music & fashion of my childhood. When it comes to fashion, I couldn’t be any more influenced by both the 90s grunge and minimalist chic looks. My all time favorite fashion icons are Kate Moss and Victoria Beckham. Normally the grunge look is a little bit easier to pull off because its so effortless and I’m not that good at putting in effort, especially when it comes to hair & makeup. But I’ve always loved the very chic hair and makeup of the 90s – all those ultra sleeked back hair-dos, sometimes with spikey flyaways, and minimalist makeup (usually a bare face and mega black eyeliner). Now that my hair has grown out past my shoulders, there is not too much I can do with it in terms of styling. I’m not that great at doing my hair, but.. I can do a simple and easy, rather sleek & long ponytail. There is a trick to my look also because when I do tie it up in a regular ponytail, it’s actually not all that long. So here we go… this is how you get that ultra sleek, slick, & long ponytail.

1. Dampen, Shizzat, and Part
First you are going to want to start with damp hair and put some shizzat in it… Remember I am not your hair stylist so I can’t actually recommend any good products. To me shizzat is a concoction of gel, mousse, or hairspray… anything that’s going to give your hair some stickiness. However, I do not recommend any There’s Something About Mary hair products (90s throwback!). Then you are going to want to take a very fine comb and comb the front of your hair forward so it covers your face. Then putting the comb to the side, part your hair about half way from the middle of one of your eyebrows. You can part it straight down the middle also, but I did an offset part for my look today. You can also plan to slick it all back without a part. It’s all up to you.

2. Straighten That Mane
Now with your hair parted, you are going to need to straighten up that hair. I usually take to my damp hair a big rolly brush and my hair dryer to straighten it out. I put my hair half way up and start from the very back of my head rolling the hair up in the brush and pressing my blow dryer to it as I brush it out. I paid attention one time while at a hair salon, and it’s always how they do it, so I tested it out and learned the ways. When you straight your hair out this way, it’s going to be a lot less damaging then a flat iron and will give your hair a little bit of fluff. However, I usually combine the blow out with a flat iron when I’m going for ultra sleek hair. I flat iron my hair in a similar way by tying my hair up about half way and starting from the bottom and working my way up to my crown, I straighten a good chunk of strands. Then I have beautiful sleek hair that I can put some more shizzat in, usually some type of hair gloss that I use from my sister’s cabinet. I don’t have any on me, so I didn’t get super glossy on this one.

3. Pull It Back Twice
Now here is the trick. With your super straight hair you are going to pull your hair back into a half up-do, starting from right behind your ears to about the middle lower back of your head. The key to a long looking pony tail if your hair isn’t super long is to not put it on top of your head, but lower back. Hold the ponytail in position and make sure to use a brush to brush back the sides and top so that you don’t have any knotted or bunched up hair. It’s also a good idea to take a fine comb and do the same. After you have your hair successfully half way up you are going to do a similar effect on the leftover hair. Yes, you are going to make two ponytails. The second ponytail should sit just under the first. The second pony tail is going to be lower then the first, elongating the over pony tail. You can actually do as many ponytails as you want, creating a sort of pony-tail mow-hawk effect. I usually stick to two or three and no more then that.

And so that is it. The thing about slicking you hair back is that you are going to bring attention to your face. It’s a good look to pair with fresh makeup, intense eyes, or an interesting pair of earrings. Sometimes hair is used as a comfort zone. it’s almost like you can hide behind it. If you wear your hair slicked back, it automatically speaks confidence and that… is very chic.

If you didn’t know by now, EYEBROWS can MAKE or BREAK a face…

You might think I sound crazy, but think about it… They are the epicenter of your face, they are what can provide a harsh look or a subtle look to your face, if they are arched too high you looked shocked, and if they go straight across you look pissed.  You can’t win!! Forget the makeup, if your brows aren’t on point there’s no point in putting in the extra effort to add shadow to your lids, it just brings more attention to the jungle you got growing on your face.  If your like any normal human being (okay maybe Im just speaking for myself) You probably catch yourself looking in magazines at pictures of celebs, such as Kim Kardashian and Rhianna, wondering…how the HELL are they so gorgeous.  Well it doesn’t hurt that they are already drop dead gorgeous, but can you imagine what these women would look like with Macy Gray afros over their eye-lids??  Reggie Bush wouldn’t be known for his last name, he’d be known for dating the girl with the Bush on her face…and Rhianna would be singing “its so hard” to sell some records.

Forget the commodity of Indian hair weave, do you know what people would do to have those brows?!?!

Try to guess who this now "hottie"major celeb is with the UNI-BROW...*heres a hint* she's in Transformers and has been called the "new Angelina Jolie"

So here’s my Brow Confession:

I’ve been getting my brows threaded since last December, and I notice a major change.  Im not gonna dig into the archives, embarrass myself, and possibly lose all of my friends by showing you the brows that I grew up with.  Im just gonna give you a visual, imagine Bert from Sesame street, now add a caterpillar uni-brow.  YEP (now delete that picture from your memory).  So I literally would try everything possible to tame these, or what was in my case wayyy back then, THIS brow.  Waxing sucked because I would end up with the “OMG Im SO SURPRISED” look from pencil thin brows, and creams such as Nair was a NO NO because you risk breaking out from a rash, eww.  I was introduced to an Indian technique called threading, which is where they actually use a thick piece of thread to clean your brows.  I never thought the day would come where I got compliments all the time on my beautiful brows (yeah bitches that used to tease me, i’ll brag about them now), I got put onto threading and I’ve been in love ever since.

Yeahhh Sucka's! No more Al B Sure uni-brow!!! Thats so circa '95

The joys of eyebrow threading, no pencil thin brows!!

I'll be the 1st to admit, I love my brows!

Now im not gonna lie, threading hurts!  It feels like little plucking, similar to tweezing, but with a thick cotton thread (sounds as weird as it looks).  Its not as quick as waxing, where its there 1 min and gone the next.  With threading you need to prepare to sit in the chair for about 8 mins, but please believe the pain is worth it!  The results last longer than waxing, I now go every 2 weeks, as opposed to basically once a week when I was a waxer.   And you seriously get used to the pain after your first 3 visits.  As for the nasty stubble that waxing leaves behind…you don’t have to worry about that with threading.  The hair grows back long enough so that you can completely pluck it out with a tweezer…no tiny man-like stubble!

The thread does the job

For my bi-weekly threading trips, I go to i-Too in East Atlanta Village…they seriously know me on a 1st name basis there now.  It only costs $7 to get your brows threaded, but if you make an appt in advance they give you a $2 discount…$5 threading, FOR THE WIN!!!  Also, whats really important is having the SAME person do your brows, because they get to know you, your brows, and how you like to have them maintained.  You can’t walk in there having Jaya Patel doing your brows, then Dana “Pookie” Jenkins doing them the next time your there.  So whenever I go, I request Rani to do my brows, she never does my brows wrong!!!

Next time your tempted to let the wax touch your brows, go ahead and book your appointment i-Too Threading Salon –> 404.653.8990.

Marc Jacobs is definitely doing his thing in all things fashion, beauty, fragrance, accessories, bags.

I love Marc Jacobs products and would be obliged to have a black card for his stores.  *sigh*  Instead, I just smell like Marc Jacobs for under a hundred bucks, thanks again to Urban who put me on to DAISY about two years ago.  I have always loved soft scents that don’t give people head aches.  This perfume is a perfect match because not only is the fragrance soft and sexy… you can wear it through out all the seasons AND the bottle works as decor for your vanity.

DAISY by Marc Jacobs

LOLA by Marc Jacobs

DOES ANYONE WANNA SMELL LIKE ME?! =o)

Futurista went for the Sexy Shimmery Golden look, I went for the Edgy Turquoise/Green Look

With Halloween coming up, everyone is looking for an outrageous costume that will have shock value….but Halloween costumes are EXPENSIVE (they range from $50+) and its a recession…RECESSION!  So a very unique idea, and great way to save that $$$ is to FACEPAINT a mask on your face!

Its simple, put the primary focus of what you want to be for Halloween on your face.  Ex- Cat, mouse, fairy, leopard, squirell (ok maybe not)….etc. And just find a cheap alternative for the outfit (a leotard, leggings, cut-up tshirt).  With the right makeup and tools its simple to paint your face, and it will make you stand out from the crowd (cause Im sure there will be a TON of MJ remakes this halloween).

PARTY PARTY PARTY, Everyone came through with their masks

For Futurista’s “Masquerade” themed party we decided to have our masks painted on our faces (because #1- we don’t have time to sit and make a mask, #2- we couldn’t find a cute mask to buy).  So we took our asses over to MAC and shelled out $50 to get our faces painted.  The masks came out great and we definitely got attention the entire night from them.  NOW DON’T GET ME WRONG, I LOVE me some MAC….but $50 is WAY too much for a mask to be painted on my face.  The requirement is to buy $50 worth of products….you wanna know what $50 got me?!?! 1 lipgloss and 2 sets of lashes (that I was only able to wear twice) SHAME ON ME!

Ellisha's Self-made Pink & Purple Masquerade Look

So my facebook friend Ellisha took the initiative to put together a tutorial on how to create the masquerade look on your face yourself.  And as you can tell from the picture above, she’s EXTREMELY talented with the makeup skills!  This is a great way to look Hot on Halloween with saving some $$$ in the process.  So checkout the tutorial and try it out, and let us know what you think!

-urbanSocialite