Advice

 

 

Applying make-up (my way)

 

As  requested by my students I will reveal my deeply hidden secrets and open Pandora’s box and what will follow will destroy humanity , bla bla bla …….

This is the way I apply my make-up in general , this list is a reminder for my students (all rules can be broken).

I am not the only one who know about make-up , nobody’s perfect (I loved when Samy Davis Jr said it on TV).

By the way : Guess what ?

I am French so I am already starting with a disadvantage 

 

Let’s simply start the way I taught you.

Foundation :

Be sure that the previous make-up is gone    yes please     sometime I see strange color around

Okay let’s be serious and start

Step 1 Primer also called creme de jour , (basically anything that hydrate your skin and protect it from the sun , pollution and other bad stuff).

Step 2 Liquid Foundation.

Step 3 Concealer.

Step 4 Clear Powder or other if wanted or Powder Foundation.

Now the base foundation  is done.

Lights and Shadows to define the shape of the face and at the same time you can do the Eyebrow.

Eye :

Step 1 Base color desire.

Step 2 Eyelid than desire shape of the eye.

Step 3 Eyeliner.

Step 4 Mascara.

Now the eye are done.

Lip : Pen or Lipstick or both (as desired).

Cheeks : Color desired.

Then to make sure you didn’t forget anything just do a total double check.

You can do in anyway that please you when you finished the foundation (usually the best) , could be like lip first than eye than cheek  ,….bla bla bla .. , as it pleased you to apply your own make-up your own way.

If you get confused remember from up to down from left to right and you will have less chance to miss a spot.

 

 

 

Make-up remover

It is very important for people to understand that YOU CAN NOT sleep with your make-up on , for 2 majors reasons.

– 1 : you are not helping your skin at all !!!

– 2 : I you don’t care about your skin here is the other important thing , Imagine that your boy friend or lovers or husband wakes-up in the middle of the night to get some water and see you with all of it all around your face , it is not helping at all and it will do the opposite , also you may stain your pillow and it is very hard to remove it , you will scrub your sheets like hell.

So I will recommend you to use a special soap or a cleanser to remove your make-up at night so your skin will breath , use it with a cotton also if you don’t have any cotton (here is my little tip) you can use a baby tissue towel , when I went to the make-up school I have to have at least 2 make-up on a day so I know what I am talking about I tried it , and I am still trying new products on my face , (I am the that guy walking in Tokyo with make-up on) to see the reaction of my skin, so to avoid to have too many products on me when I go at the store I use those baby tissue towel and I love it , so if you have nothing around you to remove your make-up , this is a temporally option , try differents brand and use the one you like.

I finally found an excellent make-up remover that has the same feeling like water in Tokyo.

Highly recomand by me for those you wants a very ligth make-up remover.

 

Hair gum gel wax and more ..  

A very simple way of using hair or wax gel or gum.

We all know how are it is to use those products because we get it always too much in one area and not where we want it diffuse all around the hair

I always take a tiny drop of those products with one finger  and I place it on the palm of my other hand

than I close both hands and I wipe it between both my palms until it get as diffuse as possible (3 secound)

(NOTHING stay in my finger all of it in in my palm)

after I place both my hands from both sides of my head and I gently stroke all my hair with it in a circular way , usually the way the hair goes than the opposite way than back to where the style was decide

If you do this method you should obtain the result that you are looking for ,

indeed it may take few tries to make it work properly , no-one is born with the infused knowledge ,

just remember DON’T add more unless you are happy with your first stroke

Hair spray , why I use it.

Their are few types of hairspray , from shine to power of holding the hair.

By my experience  I use only 2 types for 2 very distinctive reasons.

Number 1 is Helnet (for up-style) , for any type of up-style it is the best hair holder that let me give the shape that I am creating , no question ask , any professional can tell you how it make the hair so easy to work with, if not too bad (can’t make everyone on earth happy) , I  approve it for sculpting your hair-do 

Number 2 is a freeze spray (for holding), yes indeed for those who worked along hairspray sometime we need the power to make it hold so bad that we have to use this one 

Their are a lot of Brands so make yourself happy with the brand you want , some will treat the hair at the same time , some with protect it , some will shine it , etc….. , just make yourself happy with it.

I personally don’t use any of those cause if the hairstyle doesn’t hold it make me look like I fail and it is not an option

In case you are un-happy with the one that you have trade it with a Friend , if not their is another solution that it could be useful , when ever you experiment hair gel or gum or wax type products and you try to shampoo it and if the shampoo doesn’t remove the other products try to spray over your hair and than shampoo it again.

I did it and it worked   don’t use a very strong shampoo or products for washing your clothes ! you will make your scalp sensitive.

 

 

 

Hair Coloring during Pregnancy

I like this article about hair color and pregnancy,

http://americanpregnancy.org/isitsafe/hairtreatments.html

I have done it to pregnant Ladies (some knew some didn’t)  and always asked them to wait if possible or just use bleach during the first 3 months , by the way products improved in safety so much the last decade.

Now when I had to do it , I didn’t touch the scalp for safety reason so the roots showed 2 mm from day one and I recommend semi-permanent coloring it does somewhat the job and I never had a bad surprise since 1988.

The most important is too let the client know about it first and to direct that person to the right information , the web is full of everything , just dig a little bit more and you’ll find your answer.

Dry-cutting , why ?

Here are the reasons why I prefer to cut the hair dry instead of wet, (sometime I cut wet too)

The use of dry cutting is base on the natural hair movement instead of trying to put it on a  place , (usually geometrically)

By doing this way of cutting the hair , some benefit comes to the haircut itself :

The haircut will hold diffidently longer time the hairstyle is improved by following it into his natural movement when cut so it is very important not to use any tension into it and and it is also very important to moisturize it very slitty with a mist of water for it to return to his natural shape.

An another advantage is , I and the client can see right away the length of the hair (no surprise at home the morning after your own shampoo) , especially for curly hair it is a plus because the natural elasticity and curl will give the pattern of the cut and by following it their are no surprise when the hair dry naturally.

It has a little down part for the hairstylist but let’s send myself some flowers too.

Other  thing which I think why a lot of hairstylist are not using this technique is because it add an extra 20% of time while doing this way and the reason is that the haircut has to be focus on a very small area (less than 1/2 cm each strand) so the benefit is that the haircut is more precise but as you know time is money and that is also why I think a lot of haircutter won’t use this technique.

For the little story.

As I recall there are not some many way to teach this technique of cutting the hair , mine was that I work with many talented haircutters and one was them was Olivier (who was an apprentice from André and he showed it to me and kicked my ass to improve my way , a lot of time was just the old way he learned it “look and learn” the good thing also was that he wasn’t scare to share the info good or bad , I have to say that sometime it wasn’t fun , to be a professional cutter for 15 years and to ear someone telling you that you work stinks !
That was a good thing to improve cause he always explain to me where I could improve instead of just what most of trainers do is just saying it’s bad and that all , so because we shared the same passion it was easier and an interesting training.

Hair product for shine

This is my personal way add shine to your beautiful hair 

There are 3 types of products to make your hair shiny.

– First one is conditioner , it treat the hair  , very common. (sometime it needs a little extra help)

– Second one is to use a detangler (usually a light spray), I recommend it for long hair or hair that get easily tangled, it really improve the way the hair react when combing it.

– Third one is silicone base products also called leaving conditioner , it does not treat the hair , I usually use it as a finishing touch if needed. ( a bit too heavy for my taste but useful if you have too much volume).

 

 

 

 

The importance of appearance

I was having a online chat with a very old friend of mine Craig on the other side of the world and we simply talk about everything and else at some point I asked him about how was going is start-up going on and he told me that it was going in the right direction but it was hard (indeed , he just started it), and maybe he could do a little investment ($20) to better sell his art.

In the middle of the discussion i said a simple little phrase , that is important in my point of view.

(maybe it is a big part in my business).

I said to him:

A cakes always looks better served a silver`s plate than on a paper`s plate

(or something similar, I kind of forgot the exact words I used.

Well this comment got me to receive 3 positives things as a feedback ,

-the first one was that I made him laugh which is a very good start when expressing an opinion ,

-the second was that he agreed with me , it is somehow important (I don`t like I said a stupid thing),

-the third thing that i didn’t expect was that I made him happy by saying it  (that`s good) , so he decide to put it on his blog , I am kind  proud of myself  (that`s why friends are here for to help each other), and also good word spread.

Yes indeed appearance is very important in anyway , to fell good or when we want to sell something , a service , a product , anything , appearance is the first contact with the costumer , also that why please keep following your appointment on time don`t over pass it , not only your helping your local business (ex: hairstylist , make-up artist , etc… (also me indeed)) you look good so you can feel better , specially when your not on your best day , just go to the salon and get a wash&blow try a new conditioner or different way of blow-drying your hair , it really will improve your day. 

 

 

Fall Advice

With autumn just around the corner, the time has come to adjust your makeup and hair colors to match the season’s beloved warm hues.

We all know—but sometimes forget—that when the season changes, the entire color palette for clothing changes as well. Just look around: the quality of light is different from that of summer, and our skin will shed its tan in the coming weeks. For ladies, this is a call to begin adapting your makeup, hair, and fashion. For men, it’s also the time to change up your wardrobe.

If you feel like changing up your hair colors a bit for autumn, you can start by adding a warm tone to your formula. It doesn’t have to be any- thing drastic—simply ask your hair colorist to add a touch of brown to the color you’re already wearing. That’s enough to give your hair an autumn touch.

For makeup, remember that your skin tone is unique. The amount of melanin in the skin differs from person to person, which means some people have natural tones more on the pinkish side, while others are on the tan side. Of course, some of us have equal amounts of both.

I usually advise my clients to purchase two types of foundation at the same level: a warmer one for when the skin is too pale from lack of sun; and a cooler one for when the skin is warmed by daylight. This makes it easier to neutralize tone when seasonal changes trigger a shift in the skin appearance. Some people prefer a warmer tone, and others the cooler side—it’s simply a question of taste.

I usually tell my clients that a neutral tone is better—especially if they’re having photos taken—because it works in every situation, indoors or outdoors, and is less dependent on external lighting, which can vary wildly be- tween soft and harsh. And as the pages of the calendar turn, having two types of foundation on hand makes it easy to adjust to the changing light.

Now, adjusting makeup to your skin tone.

ask Alex for a photo or look for a stock photo…

AUTUMN

Changing your colors with the seasons

Here’s a personal trick I use for each season: autumn shifts us toward warmer makeup, and in that case, a neutral tone or cooler tone will most emphasize the makeup.

The charts for Asian and Caucasian skins are slightly different. As a professional, I use both when approaching a client’s makeup. If the foundation is right, I take cues from the cli- ent’s clothing colors to create the best match and overall look. Another tip is to pair hues with the client’s eyes. These tricks work wellfor all seasons.

This info could be pulled out into a callout

element. Maybe color swatches or boxes show- ing each color—approximate, of course, as we don’t have color mixtures for these.

AUTAUMN COLOR PALETTE

Warm colors and strong colors for makeup and clothing: hazel, olive, auburn, deep red, me- dium brown, dark brown, warm green, ochre, umber, and copper.

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