Canadian Beauty

Legendary makeup artist, Francois Nars, launched his new book last week, titled Make Up Your Mind: Express Yourself.  Retailing for $50 this book takes real people (really!) and infuses them with glamour through the application of makeup.  When I say that these people are real, I mean it.  They aren’t models with super high cheek bones, full lips, and naturally lush lashes.  They are like you and me: they have nice features, and some that need enhancement, while others just need a touch of the expert hand.

The best part of this book is that Francois Nars tells you exactly which products he’s used to do the make overs and all the products are available at your local NARS counter.  It’s pretty fab.

The formatting of the book is very well thought out and really makes it stand out from other how-to manuals that are out there:

“The “before” and “after” images are identical in size, making it easy for the reader to compare the faces and see how the result was achieved. Transparent acetate overlays on the “after” images provide specific products and techniques. To lend a more personal touch, the overlays include hand-written notes from François. The goal is for the reader to study the “before” and “after” looks, then place the transparent page on the  “after” image to see exactly how the transformation was created, what makeup was applied and which techniques were used.”

In Canada, the book is available at Holt Renfrew and retails for $50.  It is a must-have for any makeup lover, or for anyone who wants to get better at doing makeup.

I don’t have the book, but here are a couple of before and afters from it and they are impressive.  Just these pictures had me going through my Nars stash to see if I could do some of the looks myself. …I can’t, but it’s definitely upped my game a bit.

And finally, Francois Nars leaves us with some words of advice which I love:

“Regardless of what look you are trying to achieve, less is more.
Always go for transparency no matter what—even with very
intense colors. “

Body bronzer is a must have for the summer because it makes your skin look glowing and healthy.  It can disguise blemishes and make arms and legs look more tanned.  The problem is that the body oils rub off on clothes, furniture, and people and make clean up essential.

But the NARS Laguna Body Illuminator doesn’t do any of that.

It’s a light gel formula that’s filled with pigment and shimmer.  Because it’s a gel it dries and doesn’t rub off your skin.

I found that this was really easy to use.  It takes 10 minutes to dry, which means that I had tons of time to rub it in properly and make sure I had an even application.  The best way to use this is to not wear any moisturizer underneath so that it dries on your skin and can stick to it.

I wore a black dress the night I used this, and it was still clean at the end of a long night.  The Illuminator came off when I showered, and a bit rubbed off on my pajamas, but I was just happy that I could wear it for half a day without any smearing around.

The only reason I won’t be using this more, is that it’s quite dark for my tan skin, and I would have liked something with gold shimmer in it instead of the reddish brown Laguna colour.  But this is still in my makeup kit because it made me look so good, and I might still reach for it now and then.

Pick it up at your local Nars counter.  It is way better than the Nars Body Glow body oil which is a lovely oil but isn’t transfer proof like the Body Illuminator is.   I hope they bring this out in lots of different colours so I can use it year round!