David, This Would be a Nice Buy August 24, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Beauty, New York, Photography, Thoughts , 2commentsI might be in love with this building.
In fact, I might have a secret desire to buy this building and turn it into the most beautiful house.
I’m just sayin’.
Self Portrait June 26, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Beauty, My Handsome Husband, Parenthood, Photography, Saba , 9commentsI had to shoot a self-portrait for an assignment. This did not make sense to me on many levels. Photographers like to be BEHIND the lens not in front of it! Needless to say, this was a stressful assignment.
These pictures were taken ALL BY MY LONESOME, with no help. Do you know how hard it is to focus the camera when it doesn’t know exactly where to focus? If you move one centimeter in front of or behind where you focused the camera, the image will be all out of whack.
Trust me, I had enough ghetto photos to prove this theory.
What I’m trying to say, is that not only did I shower, shave my legs, give myself a mask, paint my toes, pull this dress out of storage, steam it, put on make-up, and do my hair, but I set up the picture and shot it ALL BY MYSELF.
I did four different concepts for this shoot, and I’m posting images from shoot number four. Trust me, the first three concepts were GAG. In fact, I deleted all but two images from my first three attempts.
What to do, what to create, what story to tell, what image to put across . . .
I asked my husband of 12 years what he thought I should do. What represents me? Who am I? He smiled and said, “Sweetie, if you don’t know who you are, then you have a bigger problem than coming up with an idea for your self-portrait!”
This got me to think. I feel like I’m in limbo between two different worlds. One world I refer to as my “previous life” and one world I refer to as my “current life.”
In my previous life, the one where I had a career, worked hard, and got paid for it, we owned a bridal store. I designed bridal and formal gowns and traveled to Asia several times working with top designers. It was common for me to appear on Good Morning Texas promoting new lines, or modeling formal wear at Dallas Market Hall. I produced and emceed hundreds of fashion shows in several states, and it was usual for me to attend a black tie event weekly.
After several years in this profession, we sold our store, house, and cars, and moved to the Caribbean so David could attend medical school.
Not only did I leave a career I enjoyed, and a home I loved, but we moved out of the country to live on a tiny five square mile island called Saba in the Dutch West Indies. Shortly before moving, I found out I was pregnant with our first child.
My life changed 180 degrees! The Caribbean is the one place in the world that can make anyone “stop and smell the roses”. Having a child on top of that teaches you that you can’t always have a rigid schedule. In a nut shell, I chilled out a LOT.
I’m no longer the fast talking, high paced, results-are-the-only-thing-that-matter woman.
I feel more balanced. I like who I’ve become. I have thoroughly enjoyed motherhood. But there are days I wish I had a plane to catch, some project to oversee, a new design to submit. Or heck, just a really good pay check for working hard at home.
Hopefully this explains my pictures.
I chose to sit on the stairs in my home, in a cocktail dress, (which I had to dig out of storage) with my children’s pictures behind me. I do hope the expression on my face conveys the feeling of being caught in the middle. Trying to find the balance of both worlds that make me who I am.
This second picture was just an extra. I liked it, but there is a little too much negative space.
Don’t expect many more self portraits in the future. This assignment was very stressful to execute and made me age 10 years. You all know how I feel about aging!
Facial Care 101 June 12, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Beauty , 6commentsDid I mention I would post Skin Care 101 last week?
Ahem.
I meant this week. (Obviously.)
First off, I would like to make a disclaimer: I am not an esthetician, professional makeup artist, or scientist. (I’m sorry if this disappoints any of you.) If you are looking for the nitty gritty of WHY our skin does certain things and exactly HOW products work, you’ve come to the WRONG place. If you’re looking to satisfy your inner nerd, check out WebMD and ask them your questions.
However, I started caring about wrinkles at the ripe old age of 16 and dove right into caring for my skin. I have managed a hair salon, participated in more pageants than I can recall, modeled at Dallas Market Hall, produced hundreds of prom fashion shows (this is not an exaggeration) and worked closely with professional makeup artists (and filled in several times as an artist) during photo shoots. I have a passion for skin care and makeup.
I firmly believe that looking good is a choice. Not a privilege.
Now, let’s talk about looking good!
Your makeup will only look as good as the skin it graces. Let’s talk about your skin (in another post I’ll address makeup tips).
Consider your skin as a blank canvas. You need to keep it as healthy and beautiful as possible. The right skin-care ingredients can coax your skin from blemished to smooth, blotchy to clear, and dull to radiant.
But, before you run out to the nearest department store makeup counter and plop down hundreds of dollars on lotions and potions that promise to spring your skin to life, you must determine your skin type.
(test below taken from the book “Getting Gorgeous
To figure out whether it’s normal, dry, oily, or a combination of dry and oily, take this simple test:
Wash And Dry your face and leave it un-moisturized for three hours. Press a single piece of tissue to your face and remove it. Make your diagnosis:
Normal Skin if no oil comes off the paper and your skin doesn’t feel tight or flaky.
Dry Skin if your skin feels dry, tight or flaky and no oil appears on the paper.
Oily Skin if oil comes off your nose, forehead, and cheeks.
Combination Skin if there’s oil on your nose and forehead but not your cheeks.
Sensitive Skin if your skin tends to be tight and blotchy and reacts to new skin-care products by becoming red, inflamed, or itchy.
Remember: Your skin type can change depending on the climate, the season, or your age. You may need to use lighter moisturizers and gel cleansers in the summer and use creamier products in the winter.
Do you know your skin? I didn’t need to take the test to know mine! (BUT TAKE THE TEST ANYWAY! Do as I say, not as I do!)
Before you wash your face, you must wash your dirty little hands. Okay, you might think they’re clean, and maybe they are, but don’t take any chances. You don’t want to introduce new bacteria to your face while your pores are open!
Wash your hands.
Splash your face with warm water. Warm water opens your pores, making washing your face much more effective.
Wash in an upward motion, and outward circles. Your skin will do what you tell it to do, so over the course of 40 years, if you wash your face inward (pushing your cheeks to sag) your face will sag! True story. ( Although, I don’t want to spent the next 40 years trying this to prove this point.)
Wash your skin with your hands only, and be gentle. Please, please, please don’t use a wash cloth! Sometimes, we can get a little overzealous with the soap, thinking that the harder, more vigorous we wash, the more life we’re bringing to our face. Just like brushing our teeth, pressing too hard can be very detrimental. Terry cloths (aka wash cloths) can cause microscopic scars on your face when washing with them! You may pat your face dry with one, but leave it at that.
I use a shammy wash cloth made by Aveda in lieu of a wash cloth. The shammy is antibacterial, and I use it to gently rub off mascara, and wash my face and pat it dry. You can also throw it in the washer and they last about a year. They run about $10. Worth every penny.
After washing, splash your face with a bit of cool water. This will close your pores (don’t want to leave those freshly washed pores open to more bacteria).
You must wash your face twice a day. It’s one of those rules in life. Like you only need to exercise on the days that you eat . . . you only need to wash your face on the days that your face has any contact with the air. (Ever heard of pollution? Yeah, it wreaks havoc on your face! Even though you can’t see it, you need to wash it off.)
It is very important to wash twice daily. At night to wash off your makeup, (or lack thereof which is my case 90% of the time) and in the morning to wash off any facial grease your face has acquired. At night, your body heals itself. I’ve been told, that your cells work to repair themselves while you sleep. (This made sense to me because how many times have you gone to bed with various aches and wake up in the morning feeling great?) It’s difficult for your cells to do their job while they’re covered in foundation, powder, and concealer.
After washing, you must apply moisturizer. MUST. I don’t care if you say you produce enough oil to share with every dry skinned woman west of the Mississippi, you still need it. For those of you with oily skin, don’t call it moisturizer, call it repair cream. We could all use a few repairs here and there, right? Find the right one, and you will have a new lease on life. The skin is very delicate under your eyes, so use your ring finger (which is your weakest finger) to apply cream. Your skin is not the same all over your body (I know, startling, right?) and this is why you don’t use Victoria’s Secret lotion intended for you body on your face. Irritation and breakouts are guaranteed. Use skin moisturizer for your face, and eye cream for your eyes. Try to find a skin cream with 50 SPF. Most creams do, but don’t be the fool to buy the only cream on the market without SPF. You’ll thank yourself in 20 years. (Or sooner!)
Some things I just don’t need to verify to believe. If it makes sense, and a skin care professional told me, I believe. So, the following list may or may not be true, but I have always believed these things and for good reason:
- Everyday you don’t wash your face, it ages three days (I’m sure this is true!)
- Everyday you don’t wash the mascara off your eyelashes, your eyelashes age 10 days. (Um, do any of you doubt this?)
- The best time to tweeze your eyebrows is right after you wash your face. Your pores are open, and the little hairs pull out easily. (Trust me, THIS IS TRUE.)
- You should use a weekly exfoliant. (True, True, True)
- You should give yourself a facial mask once a week, or two to three times a month. (I swear by this. It will liven up your skin, and invigorate your cells!)
Decide today to have great skin!
Next I will post about products and ingredients. What to look for, what to avoid, and when and if you need to splurge on that eye cream.
Beauty Must-Haves May 29, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Beauty, Thoughts , 4commentsNext week, I will do a post on Facial Care 101.
Somewhere, in the nethermost corner of my brain, lies a plethora of beauty knowledge I’d be happy to dig out and share with you. It’s going to require some effort to put my thoughts in some kind of coherent order, which will be new for me: efforts–thoughts–order.
I do hope I don’t disappoint.
This week is quickly coming to a close and my sister, her hubby, and five of her kids are driving out for a visit this weekend.
I’m guessing I’ll be pretty busy.
I thought I’d share some beauty must-haves to kick off the weekend:
YOU NEED THIS BOOK:
“Getting Gorgeous” by the editors of InStyle magazine. LOVE IT. YOU MUST OWN IT. Any questions you have will be answered. Guaranteed. Worth it’s weight in gold.
I LOVE MAC make up.
LOVE IT.
This is the Studio Finish Concealer. Need to cover up those blue circles under your eyes? Have a big ZIT?
This concealer is the answer to your prayers.
I love this Purifying Cleansing Mask from Bath and Body Works. It may have been discontinued (Boo! Should have done my homework before posting this) but I’m sure it was replaced with an equally great product. (Let’s hope!)
Love my foot bath. Hannah does too.
This is a 5x or 10x magnifying mirror (not to sure on the details, sorry I can’t remember!) and it shows EVERYTHING. THE COLD, HARD, UGLY TRUTH. But, even if you do have to stare at wrinkles you never knew existed, it’s worth it. You’ll get an immaculate tweeze, see your teeth up close and personal while flossing, and extract every last blackhead on your nose.
Worth it I tell you.
Plus, when a gray nose hair is sticking out of your hubby’s nose, he can see it and PLUCK IT.
Even husbands can enjoy this one.
Want to double your lashes in length and width? You need to use a primer. I love the Primer from Estée Lauder.
Of course, great mascara needs to follow a great primer and I LOVE Estée Lauder’s Magnascopic mascara. It is the BEST.
MAC has the best makeup.
End of story.
It has the best pigment. It stays on all day.
The color above is called TRAX. It’s probably one of their most popular colors (along with Phloof!). This color looks great on EVERYONE. When we shot our bridal catalog, we had all the models wear this eyeshadow. It photographs amazingly well, (words verbatim from Marc Reynolds’ makeup artist) and I wear it everyday.
Okay, that was a lie. The everyday part anyway. I wear it every time I wear makeup.
That’s the truth.
Foot file. Really, do I need to explain?
Possibly my most prized material possession is an electric razor. I use the term “my” very loosely because the electric razor in the house actually belongs to David. (what’s his is mine, right?) The only reason I’m on time anywhere is because I can shave my legs in the car. I shave while I check my email, when I’m talking on the phone, while Hannah plays in the bath, and while Dallin rearranges my house. Anywhere. Anytime. This is the busy woman’s solution to smooth legs everyday. Plus you never get razor burns or cuts. Ever.
I love these cute little floss things. Hannah loves them too, which is the reason she actually flosses.
Okay, last but certainly not least, you MUST, MUST, MUST get one of these:
It’s the chamois wash cloth made by AVEDA. It will change your life forever. 
Okay, seriously, you need one. It’s antibacterial, (which means you won’t be introducing bacteria to your newly washed face) and unlike a terry wash cloth, it will protect your skin from microscopic scars.
THAT’S RIGHT. Terry cloth (regular wash cloths) can cause microscopic scars on your face when washing or drying your face too vigorously.
More about that sort of stuff when I post Facial Care 101.
Have a good weekend! Thanks for all the bloggie love!
