Blaq Vixen Beauty

Frugally Fabulous: Sweet Deals at Sephora for $10 or Less

BlaqVixenBeauty — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:22:50 -0600

Celebrity makeup artists Denise and Janice Tunnell (of the famed Illusions Cosmetics line) each swear by the Tarte The Toolbox Brow Kit ($32). This set contains brow gel, a brow pencil, tweezers, a brow brush, brow powder, brow wax, and three brow stencils, plus a mini mirror. As an added bonus, each of the products contain Skinvigorating ingredients such as cocoa seed butter, shea butter, palm oil, mineral pigments, and vitamin E. With benefits like these, it's almost impossible to believe that you can get it for $6!

Of all the Korres products I've tested this year, a clear winner for me is the Lip Butter in Jasmine ($9), a sheer, neutral pink. This product also doubles as a cheek stain, providing a luscious, natural glow on the apples of the cheeks. However, I love using it as a base for when I'm in a "Think Pink" state of mind. Applied underneath pink lip gloss, it's divine. Designed as a lip treatment, I think your lips will appreciate the shea butter! Remember to use code BLAQVIXEN at checkout at Korres to get 30% off your order. Expires 12/31.

Beautyfix babes scored a blissful treat in the third installment: Bliss The Youth as We Know It Concentrate ($70). If you tried this product or any other products from the Bliss line, than you know that this brand is amazing! Although I have one product in my possession (the concentrate), it's my go-to product for when I want my skin to glow naturally. For a limited time, get the Bliss The Youth as We Know It to Go for $10.

Skin Care Sundays: Press Play on Your Skin Care Routine!

BlaqVixenBeauty — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

A fellow beauty enthusiast spilled an invaluable beauty secret: the "pat/press" method. Finally, there's a way to "get your skin care down pat."

Risi Leanne, one of the editors of the Palacinka beauty blog, revealed, "I learned from the Clarins skin care team to always apply cleanser, eye cream and moisturizer (this is the correct order) with the "pat/press" method. Instead of moving the cream around my face in a circular motion, I warm it up in my hands - then press on. It gives my skin an instant glow and I find the product absorbs much better. My favorite is Clarins Multi-Active Early Wrinkle Correcting Lotion with SPF 15." (beauty secret #5)

Still interested? Read on!

Promotions: On the Set of The Preacher's Kid with Celebrity Makeup Artists Denise and Janice Tunnell

BlaqVixenBeauty — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:00:00 -0600

"In The Preacher's Kid, actress Tammy Townsend's look is glamorous from start to end. For most of her makeup look we used products from Illusions Cosmetics," Janice Tunnell told Sophisticate's Black Hairstyles in the March 2009 issue. "We used a lot of powders, and we have a blush in the color Terra Cotta (right) that I like to use on her. I also like to apply a gold shimmery eyeshadow under Tammy's brow bone. I use a lot of Cargo's Bronzer on her cheeks. My best tip for applying bronzer? If it's a shimmery bronzer, I like to apply it in the cheek area. But if it's not shimmery, I like to use it in the area where I normally contour - the forehead, the jaw line and the cheeks."

Denise described Essence's character in The Preacher's Kid as "very bright and loud!" On Essence's makeup, Denise says, "Her eyes have a lot of color on them! We'll do sheer lip glosses, light pink blush, but then I'll use a lot of Illusions Cosmetics Eye Dust on her in colors like light yellow, light blue and green. I also like to use Precious Eyes Eye Color Pencils from Colors by Cynde Watson in Amethyst and Gold. I'll use it on the lower portion of her top lid so when she opens her eye, you can see just a flash of color! Sometimes I'll just use a lot of liner just as her eyeshadow and pump up her eyes with faux lashes and mascara.

LeToya Luckett also stars in the movie. "Actress/singer LeToya Luckett's character in the movie The Preacher's Kid is a young lady who is heavily in the church. Throughout the movie her character develops into a young lady...who plays with a little more makeup and becomes more glamorous," explains Denise. "The character grows up from being a Daddy's Girl and into a woman. LeToya likes Chanel blush in a light, pretty coral color. We loved to use faux lashes on her. As her character developed we used Ardell Fashion Lashes Strip Lashes in 110. LeToya also loves Revlon's ColorStay liquid foundation. It's really good for her, and we actually applied it by airbrushing it on her!"

More pictures from the shoot:

Frugally Fabulous: Lip Sets from Korres and Rosebud Perfume Co. for $20 or Less

BlaqVixenBeauty — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:24:33 -0600

Another use for Rosebud Perfume Co. Smith's Rosebud Salve? Use it to add gloss to your lids. As seen in the January InStyle issue: Your basic beige shadow is anything but blah when you top it with clear gloss. At the L'Wren Scott fashion show, Lancome artistic director Aaron De Mey smeared models' lids with lip balm. "The play on texture gives any ordinary shade an extra kick," he said.

For those of you who have been using Smith's Rosebud Salve since forever, I think you'll appreciate the Rosebud Perfume Co. Three Lavish Layers of Lip Balm, $16. A set of Rosebud Perfume Co.'s best selling balms, you'll find the original Rosebud Salve, Strawberry Lip Balm and Minted Rose Lip Balm for your lipsmacking pleasure. One of my favorite makeup artists, Denise Tunnell, sent this to me. I'm so glad she did because it's one of the products I've been using to keep cracked and crusty lips at bay. Seriously, I love myself enough to keep my lips in check!

While I'll always be a fan of Korres' Jasmine Lip Butter, I am slowly embracing their lip gloss as well. The only shade I had a chance to try was their Plum Cherry Oil Lip Gloss. This shade was a little too pigmented (completely opaque) for my liking - instead of a true purple color, it's more like a brick red. I'm not 100% sure, but I think there may be some purple undertones. but after reading Temptalia's review on these glosses, I want to try the Cherry Lip Kisses lip glosses, $19.50 as well. The Cherry Oil lip glosses are moisturizing, glossy, shiny and smell faintly like cherries.

Vixen, Interrupted: What's Your Side Hustle?

BlaqVixenBeauty — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:08:00 -0500

You can never underestimate the importance of having a side hustle, especially in today's economy. In addition to my main role as an United States Air Force Reservist, I consider my blog as my side hustle. One day, God-willing, I would love for my blog to become my main hustle.

Essence regularly profiles women of color who are benefiting from their side hustles and small businesses. If Essence ever profiled a beauty blogger of color in their column, that would just be more reason for me to continue to write Blaq Vixen Beauty and research topics in my niche to become one of the best. The Mocha Manual features tips from the April issue of Essence Magazine on how to start your own side hustle. I think I'll be following suit soon!

If your passion is beauty, please visit the Beauty Schools Directory. Providing information on fields such as cosmetology, makeup artist training, electrology, and hair design, you can request info and find answers to any questions that you may have. Maybe one day I'll want to be makeup artist like Ashunta Sheriff, Sam Fine, and the Tunnell sisters. I could only hope!

Another helpful resource is Beauty Schools and Cosmetology and Esthetics. It provides the same information as the Beauty Schools Directory but on Beauty Schools, you can research state license requirements and cosmetology school scholarships!