So here are a couple of things I’m going to try and be better about in 2012

1). Drink more. First of all, I don’t believe in involuntarily drinking more than 2 liters of water or any type of liquid a day. I do believe in listening to your body. When you’re thirsty you need to drink and that’s that. When you drink more than what your body needs, you flush out valuable minerals and vitamins + you waste a lot of time on bathroom trips.

I usually have gallons of black coffee in the morning, just because I’m a monster if I don’t, but I have been better during the day, switching from my usual cappuchino’s to herbal tea.
I’m even starting to like it. Well.. sortof.
So it’s less coffee and more herbal/green tea to cleanse more toxins out of my system. Oh, and I’ve also decided to make an effort to drink more champagne because I feel celebrations have been neglected in 2011. And we can’t have that now can we?

2). have regular manicures and pedicures. My hands are under scrutiny as a makeup artist, and I wash them a lot. Water is very drying to skin and it weakens nails. I have my nails done with either solar or acrylic and keep them very short and rounded/squared without polish most of the time. So what’s the problem you say? Well, I can never find the time to go for a fill and more often than not a whole week of ragged nails has gone by before I get to make time. Feet; well thats a whole other ballgame. I rarely wear open shoes or sandals not even in summer, but I do have to make an effort to go and have pedicures even though I detest anyone touching my feet. Given the choice, I would much rather go to the dentist than the pedicure, but unfortunately both have to be done.

So: make regular appointments for hand and footsie maintenance in advance. From now on there will be no more excuse not to go.

3). wear at least a little bit of makeup every day. Most people think just because I’m a makeup artist I would wear it myself every day but the exact opposite is true. I spend so much time working on other people’s faces that most of the time I can’t really be bothered to do my own anymore. So except for the occassional party/birthday/bash when I will use some mascara and concealer, I usually wear nothing at all.
Besides that, the thought of coming home late at night after a gruelling day of work and having to take it all off again, is enough incentive to stop me from putting it on in the first place. Laziness, I confess.

So: make an effort in 2012. Duely noted.

4). which brings me to eyelash extentions. A very good option for lazy people like myself who want to look bright eyed from the moment they wake up without the least bit of effort. Now all I need to do is find a good technician because I’ve tried them about 2 months ago and my lashes are damaged so badly I need to wait a couple of weeks before trying again. This time with someone who actually knows their stuff. Nuff said.

5). eyebrow upkeep. I’m trying to grow my brows back to their original fullness so I can have them threaded into perfect arches. Will report back in due time. In the meantime: step. away. from. the. tweezers.

6). upgrade skin exfoliation. As we get older our skin cells renew themselves at a slower pace. This actually starts at an age as young as 25, and by exfoliating you can keep skin younger and fresher looking. Right now I’m loving Paula’s Choice AHA gel exfoliator but I think I’ve reached it’s maximum potential by using it twice a day, so I need to look into some more heavy duty peels, and potentially a salon visit. Not my favorite pasttime, surprisingly. Exfoliating brings me to the logical next step:

7). wear sunscreen every single day of the year. I’m actually pretty good at this one already, for the face at least. So my goal is to extend that good habit to my neck and cleavage area (or whatever there’s showing of it at any given time) and my hands and arms. As we all know our neck, cleavage and hands show signs of aging quicker than any other part of our bodies so I will do my best to not stop at the jawline with my SPF 20.

There is probably a LOT more I can do but for now this is challenging enough I dare say.
Thanks for reading!
Have you made any beauty resolutions for 2012? Let me know, I’d love to read about them!

Monique

It’s 2012 finally and I hope you had a lovely and safe time celebrating the holidays!

2011 was a wonderful year for a number of reasons:

• we visited IMATS London in January to expand our range of products.
• we launched a brand new website in July.
• shortly after the launch we we able to start accepting all major credit cards, Mr Cash, and Direkt Ebanking for our Belgian and German customers.
• our team was expanded with Yvonne for accounting in the summer  and Barbara for marketing and PR in the fall.
• in September we had our own booth at the very first European Makeup Show in Berlin with the help of Debbie Bondar of FACE Atelier
• we added beautiful new brands to the catalog: BeautySoClean, Naked Cosmetics, Stilazzi and Royal & Langnickel 

Of course the work on the store is never ending and we are currently making it even better to navigate, with better images so you can really get a better look at what you are buying.

The search for more great brands will also continue, with visits to IMATS London in February and The Makeup Show New York in May in our future.
So look out for show visit reports very soon.

Also in 2012 we will be launching a new shipping rate system that is much simpler and above all,  cheaper than the one we have now. We are still working out the details but it’s getting there!

We wish you a wonderful, prosperous, healthy and beautiful 2012!

Cheers!

Here at Promakeupstore we are getting into the Holiday spirit and we would love to see what you come up with this year for festive makeup looks!
So post your most beautiful and glamorous party look for us right here on our FACEBOOk events page.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a look you’ve done on yourself or on a model.
It can be a snapshot or a pro shot, as long as the makeup is clearly visible, and posted to the EVENTS page here, NOT on our regular Facebook page.

You can win 2 prizes:

1. By sending your friends to “like” your photo and vote for your shot. Voting is open to everyone, you can vote on as many shots as you like and on your own photo as well.
2. By getting your photo picked by the Promakeupstore Team

CONTEST RULES:

1. Only 1 photo can be entered per person/artist
2. Photos must be medium or close up not full size so we can clearly see the makeup.
3. Post your photo until the contest closes on December 27th 5:00 pm GMT.
4. Winners will be announced on December 28th.
5. Voting is open to everyone and on as many looks as you like including your own.

1st Prize: the photo with the most likes will get a beautiful Royal & Langnickel brush set containing 12 essential brushes in a professional brush pouch, retailing at € 119,00. Shipping will be free with this prize.

2nd Prize: goes to the favorite look of the Promakeupstore Team and will get a € 75,00 “Glamour Kit”. Included will be Yaby Pearl Paints, Embryolisse Lait-Creme Scintillant , O.C.C. Loose Colour Concentrates and much more to get you sparkling your way into 2012. Free shipping is included in this prize.

Prizes cannot be substituted for €’s unfortunately.

We can’t wait to see the results, so get your kits and cameras out and

SHINE!!

I don’t have to tell you that good brushes make all the difference when applying makeup. A good brush can turn not-so-great makeup products into magic paint, but a bad brush can ruin any application of even your most  expensive Dior or Chanel eyeshadow, no matter how hard you try. So good tools are half the job.

A good rule of thumb is that…. you usually get what you pay for, but there is the odd exception to the rule. I have bought brushes from Sephora or The Body Shop that I have used for years with great effect.
So it’s probably a good idea to check out cheaper brands for those little gems and if you know what to look for and what to avoid you could strike a real good deal.

I will adress the difference in synthetic and real hair brushes, mainly because I think synthetics have become a real contender in the brush market in the last 3 years. I brought some back from IMATS and I was AMAZED at the quallity and softness. Almost softer and (dare I say it) better than the real thing. Which is of course a very good thing, if you want to use cruelty free materials.

Let’s start with some general pointers that go for both kinds of brushes.

• wiggle the handle where it meets the ferrule. If it’s the least bit loose, dont buy. It will only get worse over time and eventually come apart.
• fullness: in general the fuller the brush the better
• a good brush has a brass or chrome ferrule with a wooden or plastic handle. Wood is usually laquered several times to protect it from water when you wash it and from the sweat from your hands.

• look at the snape of the brush head. Is it nice and rounded with gently sloping shapes if it’s a powder brush ie? all the better!

• long handles do not always make for a better brush but there should be a balance between the length of the handle and the size of the brush head.
• look at the length of the hairs or fibers. If a powder brush or blush brush has hair that is too long it will not be firm enough to place product where you want it. Same goes for lip and eye brushes.
• check the balance of the brush. To do this, hold out your hand like you are about to shake someone elses. Lay the brush onto the side of your knuckle, where the ferrule meets the handle. If it doesnt fall off, you have a well-balanced brush that will make your life so much easier. Most people do not handle their brushes to make the most of them but I will get to that later on.
• There are different brushes for different purposes. Blush and powder brushes are usually made from goat or pony hair which is soft but still firm enough to hold product and placing it precisely where you want it, without it ending up all over the place.
• Choose brushes according to the dimensions of the human face.       A huge powder brush may look cool, but it’s actually only good for dusting off excess powder or powdering the body. The brushes supplied with most cosmetics are way too small for their purpose on the other hand. I tend to skip large powder brushes and prefer to use blush brushes for precise powdering and touch ups. For powdering under the eye, around nostrils and for spot powdering, I use largish fluffy eyeshadow brushes.
• Bounce the brush on the back of your hand. If the brush head splits apart it’s probably not firm or dense enough (meaning there aren’t enough hairs in the brush head).
• Wipe the brush in a back and forth motion on a towel. If there are hairs or fibers on the towel, avoid. This should not happen.

On to synthetics and what to watch out for and to avoid:

• too-shiny black fibers that look frizzy and stands on end.
• if the fibers feel thick and rough, bounce it up and down on the back of your hand. If its prickly: avoid.
• fibers that are either too long or too short for their purpose. A long-haired foundation brush for instance will probably give you less control than a more compact and shorter one.
• ideally, synthetic fibers should be shaped the same way as real hairs: with a pointed tip where it touches the face, and the brush head shaped fluently.

CLEANING AND CARING FOR YOUR BRUSHES
How you put them away is a matter of personal preference. Some use a brush roll, cups or towels. I personally use a brush belt that doubles as a brush roll and a cup for large powder and blush brushes.

If you are a makeup artist and you have a lot of talent to work on during a day, you will want to clean your brushes between clients. If you need them again quickly, use a good quality brush cleaner specifically made for that purpose. Beauty So Clean has a wonderful brush cleaner that will clean them, dries very fast and smells divine.
Either spray the soiled brush head or on a small towel or tissue and use a wiping back and forth motion until the towel remains clean. Do not twirl the brush as it might break the hairs.

At the end of the day I always wash my brushes immediately. I run the tap with lukewarm water and make a shallow bath for them in the sink. Starting with the biggest brushes, I dip the brush heads into the water and make sure they are good and wet. Then I soap them on a piece of anti-bacterial soap or in a small pool of dish detergent if they are synthetic and contain cream products. Dish detergent also works miracles for getting lipstick or gloss out of lipbrushes.

Once you’ve gone through all of your brushes this way, start rinsing them very well with the hair facing down under the tap until  the hair no longer feels slippery from the soap. Use your fingers to work the water through the hair and rinse until the water remains clear.
Press out the excess water in a towel and twirl the larger brushes hair down between your hands to centrifuge out as much excess hair as possible.
Reshape the hair if necessary, and lay on a towel at an angle, so the water will not run into the ferrule. See the picture below for the method I use.

Always let your brushes air dry before you put them away and do NOT use a hairdryer on them to speed things up. And yes I know you have at least been thinking about it!  Hope you enjoyed this article!!

Monique

And yes I totally grabbed that pic from my girl Tania D. Russell over at www.makeuptogo.com (which by the way is a FAB blog that you should definetely check out or better yet.. subscribe to if you love makeup and the makeup industry!) Thank you doll!

Anyway, I’m trying to make the transition from blogspot to WordPress as this gives me more possibilities and a better look altogether. I’m still finetuning the look so bear with me ok?  As I’m writing this I am also trying to figure out a way to link all my readers to our new home so if you’ve made it here: WELCOME!

Promakeupstore will be making it’s debut together with FACE Atelier on September 17th & 18th at the first ever Makeup Show Europe in Berlin.
We are very happy that this pro driven event is finally made it’s way across the pond, giving the makeup artist community from all over Europe a chance to get inspired and educated by attending seminars and hands-on workshops about the latest techniques and products. Network with your peers and develop new relationships to further your career and strenghten bonds with defining companies in the beauty industry.
And of course there will be plenty of opportunity to shop and take advantage of all the wonderful discounts on pro products available, to replenish your makeup kit for the new season ahead! 
Promakeupstore will be present in conjuction with FACE Atelier at booth 201, directly opposite the Seminar A area. Besides FACE Atelier we will be offering a variety of brands including Yaby, RCMA and ZPalette at show discount prices! 

Sunday September 18th Debbie Bondar President and CEO of FACE Atelier will be hosting the seminar “The Flawless Face for every Race”, 14:45 until 15:30 hrs.

FACE Atelier is a brand favored by makeup artists because it delivers flawless, smooth and extremely longlasting results with every application. Just the way we like it!
Come sit in on our seminar or stop by booth 201 and say hi, we love connecting with the makeup community and our customers!
See you in Berlin!!  

One of the least known brands carried by Promakeupstore, RCMA has been an insider secret of pro makeup artists for many years. The reason you haven’t heard of RCMA? They don’t advertise. Why don’t they advertise? Because they don’t have to. The brand has earned it’s good reputation with the pro’s by being consistent, hard working and performing at top level at even the most grueling of circumstances. They many not sport fancy packaging or big screen names to promote their brand, but the good news is: you will not be paying for that either! Because of their low profile and organic marketing strategy, you only pay for great product! 

Many times during filming or foto shoots you will be challenged to keep skin and foundation looking fresh, due to extreme heat, cold or rain and this is why (courtesy of the RCMA website):


All RCMA foundations are made with the same vegetable oils and waxes with only the color pigments varied. Although most commercial brands of liquid make-up contain only 18 to 23 percent of pigment to vehicle and theatrical brands are in the 35 to 40 percent range, the RCMA shades are made with nearly 50 percent pigment to vehicle, giving them a very high degree of coverage on the skin. So less product is needed for desired coverage. RCMA foundations contain much lower percentage of temperature-sensitive materials (oils and Waxes) and therefore a higher percentage of non-temperature-sensitive materials (dry pigment). So these products will produce a make-up application that will last longer and require less touch ups during the day then commercial, consumer grade foundations. For allergic reasons RCMA Foundations contain no perfumes, animal extracts, mineral oils or lanolin.

In the color lists, the lighter shades are listed first or with lower numbers, and the following ones increase the tonal value and color saturation in each particular series. Combination shade numbers are equal mixtures – for example, KW-36 is and equal compounding of KW-3 and KW-6 to produce the in between shades.
All the foundations are easily thinned out to a sheer finish by cutting them with either a light moisturizer (Embryolisse LCC is widely used for this) or with a tiny drop of RCMA’s own foundation thinner.
Application is easy with either a damp sponge (Beauty Blender is perfect for this) or a foundation brush/kabuki and the product can be thinned out to the sheerest layer with perfect coverage.

RCMA foundations are available in 1.oz pots at € 22.50, tester palettes with 18 colors to try out (each color will give you 10 – 12 applications) at € 67.50 or full size economy palettes, with 16 x 1.oz of color at € 178.50
On the Promakeupstore site you can find RCMA by either clicking on the RCMA brand button on the left side to see all the products available, or find the products by their corresponding category, also on the lefthand side.
Samples will be available very soon!

Zpalettes are empty freestyle palettes with a magnetic base to hold makeup pans, made out of recyclable cardboard which makes them extremely environmentally friendly and lightweight as well. They come in 3 sizes, small square and large rectangular, and the even larger Pro version which is brand new to the collection. They also come in funky designs like leopard, zebra, pink and always stylish all black.
Zpalettes have a see through lid so you can see in one glance what’s in them.
Sometimes pans of certain brands won’t stick to the  magnetic base as much as you’d like. For that we have magnetic stickers, either from Zpalette or the grippies from Yaby. The Yaby’s come in 2 sizes, 13 and 23 mm round, the Zpalette stickers come in one size squares.

The Yaby palettes are all white and the same size, but come in a different variety inside: 6-well (for powder foundations), 8-well (for creme foundations and blushers), 20-well (for concealers and lip colors), 40-well (shown above, for eyeshadow, pearl paint and cake liners),  freestyle with no wells for all shapes and sizes, and 21-well custom for all of the Yaby refills. Obviously the Yaby freestyle is the one to compare to the Zpalette and they each have their own merits, with the Yaby being in between the small and large Zpalette sizes, and featuring a stainless steel mirror/mixing palette. It’s up to you to decide what you prefer in a palette. I personally carry both in my kit for different reasons and like them equally.
Of course you can use Yaby empties in 3 sizes to fill with your own creme products to use in your Yaby palettes or your Zpalettes.

This is what Youtube and makeup guru Koren Zander has to say about Zpalettes:

Hope you enjoyed!

Yaby Cosmetics was developed by Canadian makeup artist Liz Yu.. She developed the brand with her peers in mind, knowing first hand how we always have way too much stuff in our kits and everybody is always trying to condense. Yaby is actually the reason I started PROMAKEUPSTORE in the first place in 2008! I had the pleasure of meeting Liz for the first time at IMATS London in 2010.
I already used Yaby as a makeup artist before I started selling the brand and I have never seen shadows so pigmented in my entire career. A lot has been said on their small size, but for me that’s more an advantage than anything else. Yes, I want to have every color under the sun in my kit, but I don’t want my kit to weigh a ton. And that’s exactly what you can achieve with these palettes. After all I do want a bright yellow and an acid green shadow just in case I might need it some day, but I don’t need them to be the size of a dollar (or a euro for that matter). They would last me my entire career AND my back would go out from carrying all that stuff around.
So before being put off by the size, think about the advantages. With this kind of pigment you aren’t likely to run out of a color any time soon, even though they are small.
If you need to replace a color in the palette, just press down on one side of the pan until it flips up, take it out and replace it with a full pan! It’s that easy.
Another plus is that they are vegan!

The four eyeshadow palettes each contain 40 shades of eyeshadow.
The “World of Pearl Paints Palette” contains all 40 Yaby Pearl Paint eyeshadows. Of the 2 kinds of shadows, these have the most pigment and they are all shimmery, and waterproof after application.
They go on like paint and then dry to a powder that won’t budge. I use these even on the waterline instead of pencil. Mixed with FACE Atelier Transforming Gel the possibilities are endless!
The Pearl Paint palette is 115 euros and refills are 2.80 including tax.

The “Dramatically Neutral Palette” contains a collection of 40 nude, brown, grey, blue, pink and black shadows in both matte and sheen finishes. For clean commercial and bridal looks you can’t go wrong with this palette.
The full palette is 95 euros.

The “Something Bright Palette” contains 40 bright eye shadows in a range of colors varying from blue greens to orange/reds, pinks and purples.
Palette is 95 euros.

Finally, the “Best of Both Worlds Palette” contains a selection of  40 best selling pearl paints and eyeshadow shades. This one is a great starter palette for first time Yaby users as well as those people who are serious about condensing their kit.
Full palette is 100 euros, refills are 2,25 for the eyeshadows and 2,80 for the pearl paints.

Of course you can always buy an empty 40-well palette and start your own custom Yaby palette as you see fit!