Con-ventional Makeup

This Labor Day Weekend, Dragon*Con will once again grace the city of Atlanta. This is one of the biggest multi-media, pop culture, sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, comic, etc conventions in the country, and being a slightly nerdy, anime-watching, fantasy book-reading gamer girl, I am super excited. Like hundreds of con-goers, I plan to dress up. While people spend lots of time and money on extravagant and elaborate costumes, I’ve always thought an amazing costume is a complete waste without proper hair and makeup to match.

However, you don’t need to purchase gobs of costume makeup to be comic couture. The cosmetics you already have in your vanity are more helpful than you think!

Superhero Chic

The natural beauties of comics, video games, fantasy series and cartoons are designed as if they have makeup on. Don’t dress up as Wonder Woman or Princess Leia without any makeup! That’s just wrong! Full skin coverage with a primer and 4-in-1 is a must, plus a bold lash line, beautiful brows, cheek color/ highlight and, of course, lipstick.

Think Outside the Makeup Box

For more wacky effects, get creative with your makeup. Used creatively, the same eye shadow, blush, bronzer, gel liner and lip pencils you normally use for everyday looks can transform into the perfect tools for low to medium intensity costume makeup. If you need to draw a design on your face, add unusual hues to your skin tone or fake a hardcore tan; a little primer (or eye prep) and powder makeup can go a long way.

Eye Pencil

An eyeliner pencil is like a magical makeup wand, and there are tons of ways to utilize it in costume makeup. Bold eyes need a heavy line and perhaps some dramatic tails. Cat costume? Draw some whiskers and a Captivating Cat Eye!  Reinforcing a shadow with eye pencil beneath makes it nearly indestructible, so your design or eye look will last all con long!

 

Travel: St. Simons Island, Ga

There’s something about summer that just screams travel. Even when I’m en route to one place or another, I’m already planning my next destination. Some are local. Some are exotic. But no matter my mood or motivation, for some reason the travel bug bites harder in the hot summer months.

Recently, I was flying from Pittsburgh home to Atlanta when, out of boredom, I started thumbing through the airline’s in-flight magazine. The feature article was “Great American Escapes,” and while most of the destinations were pretty expectable, I was surprised to see a little-known Georgia getaway make the cut.

I remember passing through St. Simons Island on a drive back from St. Augustine and was impressed with its laid-back attitude and unassuming charm. Don’t get me wrong, it’s got its share of if-you-have-to-ask-you-probably-can’t-afford-it resorts, but compared to its SC neighbors, Hilton Head and Charleston, it seems downright quaint; a place where families get away to relax rather than be seen.

This unpretentiousness, coupled with its clean, powdery beaches and pedestrian-friendly streets, is what makes Georgia’s Golden Isles (and St. Simons in particular) so appealing. Whether you’re out for a bike ride or soaking up some sun, you’re among truly carefree company, where the general consensus is that the best vacations are the ones that don’t take themselves too seriously.

Road Trip Beauty Tips

Tis the season for traveling! Whether you’re sailing away on a week-long cruise, heading to a romantic getaway or taking a long weekend to enjoy a little R&R, you have to get there somehow.  For many of us, this means a car ride, sometimes a long one. I love road trips. If you are in good company, have some yummy snacks and jamming tunes, it can be a blast getting from point A to point B.

Despite the long hours in a car and my frumpy travel wear (I shall call it comfy chic), I want to look fabulous, like I magically teleported to my destination. To keep a refreshed and travel savvy look, I keep a few items in the car for pit stops and touch-ups.

4-in-1 Mineral Foundation

A powder compact is a must-have for your purse, and it is a great addition to the car! The travel sized 4-in-1 is perfect for a glove compartment or center console.  If you want to reduce shine, cover a blemish or get overall coverage in a jiffy, this pressed powder is a life saver. The retractable chisel brush is also helpful on-the-go.

Mineral Lip Revival

Air conditioning and other drying elements in the car can cause lips to crack and feel chapped, which interferes with belting your favorite songs on the radio. Mineral Lip Revival is the perfect remedy. I absolutely hate it when I leave a lip balm stick in the car, and it melts into a mess in the cap. Since this is a creamier formula in a jar, you won’t have that problem.

Fulvic Mineral Mist

This hydrating mist is like a mystical spray that makes you look and feel great. Containing over 70 essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and amino acids, Fulvic Mineral Mist infuses your skin with vital moisture and the active ingredient fulvic acid to help soothe and refresh your face, hair and body. It’s a great way to freshen your face, set makeup, lotion-up your legs and tame stray hairs. It also feels soothing and smells clean and sweet, with just a hint of citrus. I always keep a bottle in my car. I can’t live without it.

Royal Retail Therapy Makes Me Wanna Shop

Though nobody knows who is designing Kate Middleton’s wedding gown or where she and Prince William will be going for their honeymoon, reporters and royal wedding fanatics can speculate on Middleton’s shopping trip at King’s Road this week. While shopping at the mid-market chain store, Warehouse, the bride-to-be purchased a feather print one- shoulder dress, a tropical print sundress, a lace-trimmed blouse and a poppy bandeau dress. This leads nosey Nellies to believe the newlyweds will be heading someplace tropical for their honeymoon, and that makes me want to go shopping for summer!

Middleton is quickly becoming a fashion icon, and her summer tastes are right on point. Summer is a season where fashion can be playful, with wild prints, lots of color, fun accessories and flowing pieces to optimize enjoyment of sunshine and summer breezes.  One-shoulder sundresses and gowns are all the rage, and you can never go wrong with a bandeau-style dress in the heat of the season.  Linen blouses look and feel fabulous with a skirt or some lightweight slacks, and don’t forget to finish off any summer look with scandalous sandals and a big, beautiful bag!

Well, I have to agree that it looks like Kate and William will be heading someplace sunny for their honeymoon. For Middleton’s sake, I sure hope so, since those lovely summer threads would not be nearly as cute and comfy at a snowy destination!  

A Short History on the High Heel

Perhaps it is because I’m under five feet tall, but I absolutely love a good pair of heels! For high heeled shoes and me, it was love at first fit, and I’ve been rocking pumps, peep toes, sling backs, boots and platforms of all styles and heights since my teenage years.  Though high heels are practically my running shoes, not everybody likes to wear them, and I understand why. The position of the foot and the added height in these sexy shoes can hinder speed and balance. This made me wonder “who invented these dangerously beautiful things?” I looked into this, and now you can learn and retell a brief history of the high heeled shoe, making you sound super smart the next time you’re out and about with friends.

Shoes with heels higher than the toe have actually been a status and class indicator as well as a fashion  and a sex symbol across the globe  for thousands of years! The first heels were seen in ancient Egypt and  Greece. While most of the working class  walked barefoot, the Egyptian upper class wore heeled shoes shaped as religious symbols for ceremonies, and the Greeks used shoes of varying heights in theatre wardrobe to give a visual sign of social status on the stage.

Egyptian butchers also wore heeled shoes to avoid dirtying their feet with debris. In the Middle Ages, wooden overshoes were worn over delicate shoes to keep them from getting dirty on muddy roads. In the 1400s, clog-like overshoes called Chopins became popular throughout Europe, while platform shoes were worn in certain areas of China and Japan. Both types of shoes would often tower up to a whopping 30 centimeters!

The two-part shoe we know today was invented in the 1500s. Riding boots made a practical and popular debut, and political figures who were not very tall, like Catherine de Medici and King Louis XIV, would wear heeled shoes to raise heights and lower insecurities. Foot fashion and fetishism exploded until Napoleon banned heeled shoes in the 1790s. (Marie Antoinette went to the scaffold wearing two-inch heels!)

The trend of heels went flat for a while, but they made a comeback in the 1860s; along with the invention of the sewing machine. Victorians considered the instep arch to be a sexy symbol of feminine curves, so they liked to emphasize the arch with five to six-inch heels. In the 19^th and 20^th centuries, the modern shoe exploded. The modern stiletto was created in the 1950s, and it quickly evolved into many of the fabulous designs and varieties we wear today.

Shoe culture has had its highs and lows, from political movements banning heeled shoes to downward trends making them unmarketable, but one thing is certain—nothing can keep a high heel down.