Manolo for the Beauty

Kevyn Aucoin was the first makeup artist to show up on my radar way back when in the mid-80’s.  Hey, way-back time machines are fun, no?

He was a talented man, and one of the first (and best) to showcase and share his techniques so that “normal” women could get similar looks.   Here are some stunning transformations from his bestselling books Making Faces and Face Forward.

And people wonder why I love makeup.

Martha Stewart as Veronica Lake

Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins as Josephine Baker

Calista Flockhart as Audrey Hepburn

Demi Moore as Clara Bow

Christina Ricci as Edith Piaf

Celine Dion as Maria Callas

Gina Gershon as Sohpia Loren

I want this to become a trend.

The same way you slap on a baseball hat when you are having a bad hair day, I want to be able to slip an exquisitely made lace sock over my face when I don’t feel like putting on makeup.

And OK, so maybe there might be some breathing issues going on, but damn would I look fabulous.

Yeah, these have been out for a while.

Yeah, I’m slow.

These get a big snore from me.

Yes Michelle is playing Marilyn Monroe in an upcoming film, and I get why they chose her.  But even though she is a very talented actress, I’m not getting the Marilyn vibe from her at all.  She just doesn’t seem outwardly vivacious enough.  And I’m no Marilyn expert so perhaps she was only putting on a show when in public, but the thing I remember about most of her photos was a sense of liveliness, which just isn’t coming from Michelle.  She has a bit of the vulnerability, but it just isn’t enough to please me.

Because, you know, it’s all about whether I approve or not.  Why didn’t anyone consult me on this?

Your views on beauty marks were pretty much an overwhelming, “meh.”  41% don’t care about them at all, and 25% said it depends on where they are located.  22% said they can add to someone’s beauty, while 8% disagreed.

Today’s poll is about a new place called Blushington that has opened up not too far from me, as described in this article.  Basically, it’s a place where you can go to get a professional makeup application without the pressure of a beauty counter.  They charge $35 per session, and have seven different options such as “sun-kissed beauty” to launch off for your personalized look.

On to day 2 of my testosterone-infused beauty posts.

This is a man:

This is a woman:

I’m thinking on this one, the man wins.

Yes, the man has a bit of a plastic-y vibe going, but that is all Photoshop’s fault. And maybe it was easier to hide his facial hair that way.

And Gaga looks good, but I still see this as Gaga with a pompadour.

What say you?

My dears, it’s been a gray day and a tough week, so I’m eschewing the formal idea of “beauty” and going for the amusing.  I love these so very hard.

Photographer Rion Sabean (that’s him with the power drill) does a modern twist on classic pin-up girl poses, now with 100% more testosterone!

Aside from the unfortunate period in my life (approximately 1989-1991) when I had a spiral perm which required the use of a diffuser, I’ve mostly managed to avoid hairdryers.  I think I also used them a bit in high school, but after the perm fiasco (which I don’t like to speak about) I’ve used them only for special occasions.  I kept the same dryer for about ten years until it went kaput about four years ago.  Since then, I’ve bought two different ones.

For every day wear, my biggest styling tools are a towel and a comb.

It helps, of course, that I have no bangs and for a very long time, had hair that was long and all one length.  And anyone with very long hair can tell you that the fastest shortcut to fried ends is daily use of a dryer.  My current hairstyle is long but layered, and can handle a bunch of styling or no handling at all, depending on what I want to do.

Say what you will about special shampoos and conditioners with heat protectants and space-age dryers with ionizers and crystallizers and who knows what else.   I tried quite a few and always ended up with the same result.  My hair doesn’t like dry heat.  Oh sure, it will look really good for the first few weeks.  I will be seduced by the smoothness and shininess of my hair. But eventually it will protest by looking really, really crappy no matter what.   Then I have to have three inches cut off the ends so that it will look decently healthy.

To me, not worth it as a daily thing.

I know some ladies who would sooner give up their morning coffee than their dryers, and good for them.  If they have hair that works well with a dryer long-term, I’m glad and possibly a teensy bit jealous.

Maybe I’m doing it all wrong?

According to this article in the LA Times. Gen-X ladies are working it.

As a proud Gen-X’er, this makes me happy.

I think I can honestly say that I don’t look 40.  I don’t know exactly how old I look, but it isn’t 40.

I agree with the article in that I think we look younger at 40 than our moms and grandmothers did.

It also says that we hit the anti-aging stuff pretty hard as well, word.

What do you think? Are Gen-X’ers looking quite sprightly for their age or are we just deluding ourselves?

45% of you say nail art is TACK to the E.  25% can admire it on other people, but wouldn’t do it themselves.  And 15% each are split on loving it and not liking it at all.  I’m going to say I’m with the 25%, but I am not a fan of all types of nail art.  I can’t say what I like exactly, but I know it when I see it.

Today, I want to know how you feel about a certain facial feature that has been prominent on some very beautiful women.