The Rewards of a Fan!

Become a Fortunate Face Minerals Facebook fan- and reap the rewards!

Pigments!

I was inspired today to put together some pigments. I started with the primary and secondary colors. I have to say that I was very happy with the results! I was looking to create vibrant colors, that also wore well, blended, and could be used myriad ways.

I used the Pops- from TKB trading www.tkbtrading.com as my inspiration & part of my color blend. Each of these have a specific, adhesive base as well as mineral pigments ground in to create the base color note and then micas layered over the top to brighten and enhance the overall color.

I was further inspired by a trend toward glossy eyes, and layered a silicone based gloss over the pigments to add shine. Normally this looks begins to break down the makeup very quickly, and you have about 5-10 minutes tops, but after multiple camera failures & a great big old sneeze that I though for sure spelled the end of this look, Nothing had moved! Wow! is all I can say.... everything stayed exactly where I put it- I even did the "rub" test & it really adhered well, and didn't want to come off! I'm adding some pics, but am going to find a shoot where I can really get down and dirty with these babies instead of my- "this is why I'm a makeup artist & not a photographer pics."

My newest object of Lust!

http://www.hautelook.com/invite/KWelch794

I love this site! You can check back daily, they always have specials & often really low prices on great beauty lines- like Kevin Aucoin, Urban Decay (where everything was under $10!) among many many others! They also have amazing handbags, sunglasses, clothing lines- you name it! everything from Cartier to Burberry, they had the BEST Cynthia Rowley sunglasses that I absolutely adored! If you've never been, check it out!

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Product Reviews

Today I'm reviewing a few of the products I had purchased in the past few months to add to my professional kit. The following are my personal thoughts & experiences only. I purchased all of the mentioned products.

I started out with the Laura Geller Lip Strip, to exfoliate and prepare my lips for product. The scrub is very emollient, smells & tastes minty & delicious. I would have liked the scrubbing granules to be just a bit smaller for more thorough exfoliation, but as I use a vitamin E moisture balm every evening, my lips are not very dry, or at all chapped. It does leave behind a nice soft lip. I have a shoot on Saturday, and will use this to prep the model's lips- so I can continue to see how well this works.

I also used DuWop's Lip Venom lip primer & plumping agent. I must confess, that I do not care for the scent of this product at all. The tingling sensation that indicates the plumping action started after about 30 seconds & lasted for about 10 minutes. I must say I noticed no actual visual sign that my lips were any fuller. Now, since I have fairly full lips to begin with, I really would not ever use this myself anyway, but have to say, I'm not really inspired to recommend it to anyone in need of a plumping primer.

lastly I used Urban Decay's lip color in Jilted. The color looks like a very intense purple burgundy color, with a very grapey undertone. It looks very much like a creme that would offer opacity and coverage. When applied, however it has an extremely bright, but very sheer color payoff. I used two coats to achieve the look here. I applied the lipstick from my palette with a lip brush & found the color really moved around a lot on the lips, so I really had to work hard to achieve even coverage. I don't know that it would be my first choice when reaching for a lipstick, but it does offer a bit of staining on the lips- so I could see me using it in that capacity- applying it directly to lips & then wiping it off & buffing it down to a berry stain- which I did on myself and it was very pretty. If you like bold, bright colors without a thick creme or opaque coverage you will love this lipstick.

California here I Come!

My rooms are booked, my flight is booked, I've rented a car.... California, here I come!

I am excited about my upcoming opportunity to teach in Southern California, at the Nova Studio in Point Richmond, Ca.

Lori Nova, owner & teacher at the Nova Studio, has graciously opened her studio for me to teach a 3 day Ultimate Mineral Boot Camp. What is so exciting for me, is that, not only will we cover making all aspects on mineral makeup, from foundations, to concealers, colored cosmetics, and even from scratch lipsticks, but also that I will include plenty of information and instructions on HOW to use these products to their best advantage!

The beauty of mineral ingredients is that they are truly at the heart of ALL makeup! some of the most popular makeup lines contain all of the same ingredients that I currently use to create my makeup, they just contain a whole lot more stuff as well, not all of them necessary, and not all of them beneficial to your skin. Gorgeous, high performing makeup can be made using very few ingredients, which often results in happier, healthier skin!

Don't get me wrong- there is nothing inherently bad in many of the synthetic ingredients out there, & science can offer much in the way of performance, color, texture, etc. You like super shiny, ultra tacky lipgloss? Well, I don't know a way to make it without silicone, definitively a synthetic ingredient, & one I choose not to use. But I can create a beautifully emollient gloss, with great shine & good wear, and do it all naturally.

Here's the greatest benefit of all. With the resurgence of interest in mineral makeup, since it has been a staple ingredient in past makeup lines, think Max Factor and even such popular makeup artist brands as RCMA , it can once again make it's presence known, and not just in it's generally accepted powder form, but in liquid and cream, and even airbrush! Yes, I have airbrushed my mineral powders, with some pretty good results! And, as I stated in an earlier post- my first wearable cream foundation has been born, and I must say the results are even better than I had hoped! All natural oils & waxes combined with all natural pigments have created a makeup that I am proud to call Fortunate Face Minerals!

If you are interested in learning more about mineral makeup, class signups are still underway, with an early bird signup (Discount!) until January 22nd. Class will be held March 5, 6, & 7th. for more information, class description, pricing, or to register go to:

www.thenovastudio.com

Prayers Requested

http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

The story of the physical tragedy that this family has had to endure touches my heart. I have prayed for them, specifically for the difficult surgery (one of many) that this courageous woman has had to endure. Please feel free to add your prayers as well, so a quick & successful recovery, and for blessings to reign down upon this family.

Her timing is Impeccable!

(l-r) Berry Berry Gloss, Satisfied, First Crush, Rich Amber, Prep Step, Fleet Week, Bawdy, Bare Luster

With Fabulous Timing Crystal did a review of all the products that she won in my last contest! This conveniently coincided, (hmmm coincidence?) with the launch of my web store today today TODAY!!!!!!!! (o.k really at 11:02 est, but let's not quibble) Here are her swatches of the colors- which I cut & pasted here because, frankly I take crap pictures & hers look soooo much better! Now - for those of you who haven't seen my previous post- there's a little surprise, go ahead click it, you know you want to! The freebies, yes FREEBIES, will include Fleet Week, Bawdy, and Bare Luster 3 free FULL Size eyeshadows for all my FOLLOWERS here, up to 25 people, with any purchase at www.fortunatefaceminerals.com

And if you haven't checked out her blog- you should! she also has some more pics- with the makeup on!

and I agree Crystal- I use bronzer on my eyes all the time!!!!! Thanks Crystal!

IT'S HERE! OH HAPPY DAY!

I am soooooooooooo excited to inform you all that my webstore is officially up and going. This has been a long and difficult process, made harder because I am so not a computer savvy gal. Having to rely upon someone else to do these things for you is frustrating, to say the least, but also hard because A. he's a guy, so has no clue what a makeup website should even look like. B. He's 23, so seriously, mineral makeup, um yeah- not as high a priority as, say video games. C. I'm picky. There I said it, it's true, but hey this is MY Store, so I'm gonna have opinions, and plenty of them.

Regardless it's up & going! There are still things we know we want to tweak & change, there are a million more eyeshadows that aren't even on there yet (he just needs to post them-& he wants to align the page better, looks fine to me, but whatever) So check back often to see what's new. and please feel free to offer your constructive criticism, it's always welcome, and very much appreciated.

Now to the best Part! Freebies, freebies, freebies for all my lovely blogettes!

O.k, so webguy can't get me a coupon code like I want, so you can all get a discount. (something about a HTML code, & he still has to figure that one out yada, yada, yada! Anyway, I'm not leaving you all high and dry, Sooooo. If you click the button here, and make any purchase at the webstore, I'm going to throw a bunch of freebies in there for all of you, and I'm NOT talking samples either! Free is goooooooood!

O.k. so Paypal makes me charge you $.01 for the "freebie" but I'll throw a penny back in your order!

I promise I'll make webboy (yes he's demoted to boy right now) figure out the HTML so we can get coupon codes & other great stuff good only here, and others only open to my followers!

Do smell a contest coming on?

WebStore!!!!!!

O.k guys, it looks like it may actually happen! Yay! I'm very excited- been furiously trading emails with info, questions & answers back and forth with webguy. I can't wait, seriously this, and my youtube videos have been a long time coming. I will definitely have some insider only contests/giveaways, etc. Those may actually happen Monday (give us a chance to work some kinks out & me to get this event Saturday out of the way), so I can give you lovelies my undivided attention!

hmmm, what goodies can I have for my gals..........?

Trunk Show!!!!!!

Here's a link to the boutique where I'm doing free makeup demos, and showcasing Fortunate Face Minerals Products this Saturday, Jan 9th 11-6 All are invited, and welcome. anyone planning to attend ask me how to get a free $10 gift certificate good for anything in the store!

kandee the make-up artist: oh no, backwards!!!!

kandee the make-up artist: oh no, backwards!!!!

boy do I ever know how Kandee feels! I also sacrificed for my family, and often wondered how I was ever going to be successful as a makeup artist after being a stay at home mom to three kids for 13 years! But, boy does God always know what he is doing; and he puts everything exactly where and when it needs to happen. I am grateful for this, and feel my career as a makeup artist and makeup line creator is just getting started & there is so much more ahead of me to look forward to. Can't wait to see what it is!

If you aren't familiar with Kandee Johnson - checkout her blog & her youtube videos- she's great! in fact, I wasn't sure I was really going to do youtube videos - thinking who wants to see me in a video, but she has really inspired me to say" YES, I'm gonna do that too!"I love her, she's talented, beautiful, sensitive, and very sweet.

Hopefully within the next month- two at most, i'll have my new video camera & I will upload my first Youtube makeup tutorial. I will also embed them here & at my webstore which is promised, promised, promised to be up and running Friday!!!!! oh, Boy! (seriously, webguy is fired if it's not up!)

Check back here Friday for a special something for my blog followers only!

Website & Cream Foundation

Yay! It's on it's way...... Friday is d-day for my website! (under penalty of death to my webguy if it's not up)

But, I'm also celebrating a really great incarnation of my cream based foundation. I have been working on a cream base for quite some time, & I am definitely close to a finalized version! hip hip hooray! My cream base had to be # 1, all natural- plant based oils & waxes & mineral & plant based pigment & fillers. 2nd, needed good coverage, high percentage of pigmentation for quick & easy use, 3rd be viable for multiple skin types, lastly have stable, long shelf life for safety. Well, ladies I have to say-this one is now officially in the final testing phases & should hopefully be available soon! Here is a pic of me w/ nothing but the cream foundation a little blush, lipstick & my translucent setting sheer.

Leona Love!

So I was quite inspired by this lovely pic of leona Lewis in the December 2009 issue of In Style magazine. The segment, entitled, "All that Glitters" features richly saturated colors that involve a lot of shimmer and shine! What I love about all three looks, however, is that while having gorgeous metallic & shimmery satin looks- none are over the top sparkly. They feature gorgeous sheen on the eyes, glowing skin, & a plump, moist, nude/light toned lip. (Kudos to the makeup artist Mariel Barrera.)

all three looks are going to swim around in my brain for quite some time & eventually be translated into looks of my own I'm sure (that is the way these things work -I'm inspired by others, & hopefully I inspire in return)

But, I also had an immediate response. The silvery eyeshadow above made me sit up and take notice. The colors used here are the Dior 5 color iridescent eye shadow in Smoky Crystal ($56 Sephora.com) And they are gorgeous! what inspired me most was the main lid color in that metallic silver - and I just had to experiment with making one of my own (you know I did, it's kind of a sickness) anyway, I already have a beautiful matte black for lining, A color called Sterling a deeper black/sliver contouring in the crease or my matte charcoal if I want to tone the shimmer a bit, a color called Mysterious, that shifts from silvery to purple that would add that touch of purple-ish on Leona's brow, but I didn't yet have that truly silvery- molten metal color for all over the lid. So to my mad scientist lab-o-ra-tory I went. A little of this & a little of that later My first incarnation was born- I've named it Elemental- and it's pretty good- for a start. Check it out- I think it still needs a little tweaking to be perfect, but I'm on my way........

So here's my version- I wish I took better pictures, but I really don't. anyway.

I used blackest to line my eyes- including the waterline. Then I layered some charcoal into he crease and up onto the brow bone. Then Mysterious went over the middle of lid & up to meet the charcoal at the brow bone as well as under the lower lashes-over the black. The newbie- Elemental went on the inner corner & up over all just to under the arch and under the inner third of lower lid. Lastly I took some black Raspberry for that purply hue right at the arch and to the inner corner of eye both upper & lower lash line. Lastly I used Maybelline Great Lash (waterproof)& curled my lashes.

I didn't use the Sterling and I think I need to add more to the Elemental to get it truly Molten, but It looks much better in person than in the pic. Also wetting the brush & foiling the shadow intensifies the sheen- which I did last using my Aloe & green Tea moisture spray to spray my brus & boy did it ever up the molten effect! .