It helped that to her, I was also a dream to work with, since the makeup artist that she had originally paid for never showed up.

So, to change the subject, I was reading an article about how those outrageous contemporary art prices are come up with. They say it’s all based on a negative appraisal – that is, out of ten works, there is probably only one you will like, and will actually seriously dislike the other nine. So you have to ask yourself, how much would you pay not to have to take one of those nine home to hang on your wall and live with?

What does this have to do with anything? Well, think of the same principle when you are choosing a makeup artist and wondering if they are worth the price they are asking. The same can be said for aestheticians, hair stylists, or any other art form. This can be a way to decipher prices and rates that make a little more sense to those of us who don’t really know what prices in certain industries are based on.

Have a look around the blog if you’re looking for some instructions and pictures, and I always invite you to visit me in the store for more tips and tricks.

Recently, I had been wanting a change that was a little more sophisticated but I’m a makeup artist, I work in a creative industry, and I just wasn’t ready to give up my colourful hair just yet. Enter, the ombré.

First step was to cover the red in my bangs. I used GOSH permanent boxed hair colour, so far the only hair colour brand I have found that is cruelty free, and the product is very good. I have a mix of Mohogany and Darkest Brown. It took about three applications to cover that red completely. The first hardly covered anything the second came out very green looking and faded quickly, and the third has been just right and holding fast so far. This is not a reflection of how good the GOSH product is, but rather how good the Special Effects red dye is. You can’t even bleach that out, so I wasn’t expecting a permanent hair colour to cover it first round. I left the blue streak in at the side.

The next step was to lighten the bottom portion of my hair with bleach. It was previously dyed with this same mix of GOSH colour, so it was quite a dark brown colour. Since I was going to be dying it red in the end anyway, I wasn’t too concerned with the bleach turning it orange. I parted my hair down the middle and took the two pieces over my shoulders. From there I started applying the bleach starting about at my jawline and working downwards. I applied it up higher on the hair from the back of my head and down lower on the hair from the front of my head. I let it sit for about 30 mins, and had something like this:

I let the bleach settled for a couple of days before I put the red dye on over it. In those couple of days I did some conditioning and oil treatments, as the bleached hair was very dry. Once I put the red dye on, it was done!

It was a lot easier than I had expected it to be to achieve the look I wanted, since if didn’t really have a game plan going into it.

1. Price point (seems to be the first thing everyone notices)
2. Ingredients
3. Testing.

Aside from these differences, you have to keep in mind that companies like Vichy, La Roche, are dermatological and pharmaceutical companies. They are developed by dermatologists and doctors. Olay, for example, is a beauty brand, and while the products do certainly have backing by scientists, they are often relying on technology that has already been developed by another source, and often not in equal concentration.

1. Price point is the thing that scares most people away from buying a dermatological brand of skin care. While a cleanser might sell for $12.99 by a beauty brand, a cleanser the same size for the same skin care issue might sell for $24.50 by a dermatological brand.

2. Ingredients are different between brands in two ways: the quality and the quantity. A dermatological brand’s ingredients are better quality for the same reason the coffee is better quality between Starbucks and Tim Horton’s, for example. The concentration of the active ingredients in a dermatological brand will be greater than a beauty brand, and is reflected in the price point.

3. Testing in this instance refers more to the research that goes into the ingredients and final products and how they react with different types of skin, and how well they do what they say they do. Dermatological brands have more research and testing that goes into them, and they take the time to really educated their clientele about those active ingredients.

Another main advantage of dermatological brands is that they hold workshops and seminars to teach their sales people about what the products do and how they do it, so that the sales people are properly equipped to deliver that information to their customers.

Addressing what drives me crazy as a makeup artist, there are a few things.

1. When applying products to your face, do not use your fingers. Your fingers have oils and bacteria and all kinds of things you don’t want on your face.
2. Eyebrow powder is formulated differently than eyeshadow. Eyebrow powder has a different consistency and is made to last in a way that eyeshadow is not. Do not interchange these items.

These are the only two things that actually drive me crazy. There are some other things that will make my face do things, but I won’t say anything.

So, are there a set of rules in makeup? Here are my thoughts:
1. Eyebrow powder is not eyeshadow, eyeshadow is not eyebrow powder. I believe this is the only set rule.
2. There are a lot of products that I myself will switch up. I will use argan oil on my face as well as my hair. I will use blush and bronzer as eyeshadow. I will use illuminating cream on my eyes. I will use glitter eyeliner in my eyebrows and hair.

Makeup is creative and mistakes are easy to erase. Think of everything like a tool that will help you achieve your final look.

I first noticed that my roots felt oily still, as if I hadn’t washed my hair at all. Then I started to notice the rest of my hair getting frizzy and piecey looking. Both of these things were happening at the same time and it was unnerving. My colour still looked great, but my hair was dirty.

I set out again with my search, and I knew I had to get something else quickly, because I couldn’t stand my hair looking and feeling like it was third day hair all the time. I already had something in mind, and that was Organix. None of their shampoos actually say that are made for colour protection, but they are all sulphate free, which in itself means that the shampoos have colour protection built in. I admit, I was worried, but it got my hands on Awapuhi Ginger and never looked back. My hair is clean, soft, smooth, manageable, and my colour continues to look great. The test of time will tell if my hair gets used to it quickly, or if I will be able to keep using it at length.

Acne prone, Oily Skin
If your skin is acne prone, it is not necessarily oily, however you most likely have oily patches or sections to your skin (making it combination skin) if you are prone to acne, even if your acne is hormonal.
You probably like it when your face feels dry, and that is because as your skin produces oil, it gets shiny, and you associate that with the need to wash your face.
Do not go without moisturizing!
Instead, chose products that are light in texture, not creamy. These types of products with be absorbed into the skin quicker, so that those textures don’t leave you feeling like you need to wash your face again.
Chose cleansers that have a gel consistency to them. This kind of texture will act like a soap, taking impurities away easily without being over drying and stripping the skin’s protective barriers.
Chose a toner that is a little stronger, and one that has a mattifying powder built into it is ideal. It will continue to absorb excess oil buildup on the face hours later.
Chose a moisturizer that has a gel texture. It will deliver moisture while absorbing into the skin quickly. Gel moisturizers are water based, so it will not add to excess oil buildup.
In terms of makeup, chose a powder foundation or a water based liquid that you can set with a powder. If you chose a powder foundation, chose one that can be used wet or dry for more or less coverage.

Dry Skin
Dry skin tends to feel tight and sore, and is prone to redness and flaking. Some people mistake this dryness for sensitivity, and begin treating the wrong problem.
You probably don’t mind it if your skin is a little shiny, and think of it more like a glow than a shine. It probably makes your skin feel healthy.
You might be tempted to get oily products to use on your face, some of these products can still be pore clogging.
Chose products with a creamy, thick texture. Moisturizers described as “rich” are for you.
Chose cleansers that are milky or lotion-like. These kinds of textures have moisturizers in them and will kick start packing the hydration.
Chose gentle toners, and ones that are made for dry skin as opposed to ones that are made for normal skin.
In terms of makeup, sometimes a cream foundation can be your friend. Often when we hear about cream foundation we think about heaviness, full coverage, cakey, but to dry skin, a cream foundation can mean extra moisture and protection from the weather. It can be set with a lose powder or left by itself. Some oil based liquid foundations work well.

This year for Christmas, after my Sirius brush had died, I got a Clarisonic Mia to continue my sonic cleansing routine. The Mia came with a sensitive brush head, and charger (it has a rechargeable battery and the handle does not open, so it remains completely waterproof), and a sample size cleanser, and at $140, costs almost 3 times as much as the Sirius. So here us where the actual review begins.

I really like both models of sonic brushes and I don’t think that one is actually better than the other. I think that if you are new to sonic cleansing the Sirius is a great model. It is not as powerful as the Clarisonic, which gives the skin a chance to get used to the sonic waves. It comes with a variety of brushes too, so that you don’t need to put out that extra money to experiment and find a brush that is right for your skin. If you get a rechargeable battery, then you don’t even need to put out extra money for batteries. The only thing that I really did not like about it is that you have to open the handle to change the batteries, so it’s not actually completely waterproof. I had to take it all apart a couple times a month to wipe everything out to prevent corrosion.

The Clarisonic is more powerful, and also quieter. Saying that, I don’t actually know how loud the Sirius model started out, as I mentioned, I ran mine into the ground, so the sound it made could have been the wear. The Clarisonic sounds like it’s singing to me when I put it on my face, and to everyone else (my husband says) it sounds like a hovering space ship. The Sirius sounded like a…motor.

I made the switch with my cleanser a while ago, and was using my Sirius at the time, so I know how much good my cleanser is doing vs the sonic brush debate (that’s another review). I haven’t noticed a huge difference in the quality of the clean. The one thing I really like a lot more about the Clarisonic is that it has a timer. I don’t have to keep track of if I’ve cleansed my forehead for 20 seconds and my cheek for 10 or whatever! I just make sure I cleanse all areas evenly, and when it’s time to stoop cleansing, the Clarisonic turns itself off.

In the end, although I’ve given good and bad points equally for both brushes, I do prefer the Clarisonic for the point in my skin care routines that I am at now. There are a few points that make me prefer it over the Sirius:

– It’s quiet
– The handle doesn’t open, making it completely waterproof
– It’s rechargeable and doesn’t take extra batteries
– It has a timer and automatic shut off
– It’s stronger

If you are new to sonic cleansing, is explained a little bit about it in my first impressions of the Sirius brush in a previous post.

It was 3 years ago now that I had started using organic shampoos and body washes, following the death if my uncle from brain cancer in March. It was around the same time that I made the switch to cruelty free beauty products as we’ll, and I was getting everything down to a routine quite well except for the shampoo and conditioner search. Not only at that point did I need something cruelty free, but I also needed something organic.

I started using Live Clean shampoo and conditioner. They had a colour protection line, they are cruelty fire, they are 98% organic, it was great. I started using the products and I really liked them, so much that I got my mother into using them as well. We used them for over a year, but we both found that our hair got used to the products very quickly, and their efficiency at that point was greatly reduced.

From there, I switched to GOSH colour protection shampoo and conditioner. GOSH does not test on animals, but their products are not organic. I thought I would give it a shot anyway, and it turned out that I really liked it! The smell was awesome, my hair felt really clean, my colour lasted! But after a while, I started developing a rash like goings-on on my scalp. My husband, who sometimes uses my shampoos, started developing the same rash, which turned into actual open sores and scabs. I thought it was probably because the shampoos had so much fragrance added to them, it just wasn’t good for our skin. Time to switch again!

On to the internet I went and searched for a suggestion for organic, cruelty free, colour protection shampoo and conditioner. Yes to Cucumbers, a division of the Yes to Carrots company. The shampoo is 98% organic! and has aloe, protein, and vitamins. Sounds good to me! I went to work and snatched up two bottles each of shampoo and conditioner, horrified to find that they were on clearout. When something goes on clearout at work, it means they are getting rid of it. What’s up, Yes to Cucumbers? I just discovered you, so you better be clearing out just because you are changing packaging and UPC.

I used it once so far since I brought it home and I think I like it. My hair felt a lot more moisturizer than it did when I was using GOSH but it is something to get used to. More moisture definitely equals better hair condition, especially when my hair was getting so dry it was getting staticy, and I have never had staticy hair before. I’m looking forward to using these products again and evaluating how my hair condition changes.

Recently, as told on Pita.org, India has ordered all animal testing for household products to be ceased. This cease and desist on animal testing was mainly for cleaning products, and other household products, as animal testing in India’s cosmetics industry was eliminated last year. Testing is now being replaced with simple patch tests on human skin instead Of the inhumane methods that’s were being used on animals.

What’s up, India, you’re really beginning to set a good example in the world!