18. February 2009 by Susie Chhuor.

Sometimes makeup can always look great in life, but there are some key clues and things girls should watch out for when choosing a makeup artist especially for their wedding day:

01  The makeup should look great in life and feel comfortable because brides will be interacting with family and friends throughout the day and there is definitely no need to feel cakey or more importantly make your friends and family think you are wearing too much makeup!
02  The makeup should match your neck perfectly or as close as possible.  Sometimes its very difficult, especially when it comes to purchasing the right foundation shade, to get the right match.  There are several reasons for this.  1.  you may be purchasing the wrong undertone colors (most Asians are yellow and Caucasians are usually considered pink) and 2.  your face may just be darker/lighter than your neck color.

When this happens it is highly recommended that you try to match your natural foundation color with your face than with your neck.  You don’t want a face that is too dark or else it will look like you are wearing a mask, and you don’t want a face that is too light because this will look very scary and just as obvious.  Match your face foundation then dust some powder on your neck sparingly and this will make a world of a difference!
03 The products used, especially for foundation will look it’s best when it is designed for photography purposes.  Mineral makeup usually doesn’t work too well in photos as the minerals in the foundation reflects and bounces off your face and into photos when using flash.  For this purpose, I usually don’t use mineral foundation for my clients.

What I highly recommend and definitely rave about is Make Up Forever HD’s foundation!  This is a great bottle that has 40+ shades in various skintones for all people.  The coverage is medium and it goes on like butter!  Amazingly smooth!  It recently hit stores in the beginning of 2009 and can be found in Sephora.  I can bet you that by the end of this year, this product will be rated as on of Sephora’s top items!

04 Say Cheese!  This is the last and most important thing that I can probably suggest to anyone.  Always, always request to have your photos taken at a trial session with flash!  Most artist that will take your photos will take the images without flash because over all you come out better and you don’t see how the makeup will translate.  Obviously, the photo with flash won’t look as great as the ones without flash (because dim lights can make anyone gorgeous– think about going clubbing and all the sexy girls in the dark.  It’s a different story when you see them in the light!)  But at least the photo with flash will allow you to see what’s the WORST it can get.  If it looks good on flash then it’ll look great through your photographers lens and in everyone else’s cameras that will be taking pictures with you!

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23. January 2009 by Susie Chhuor.

Being Asian myself and after working with all types of ethnicities, including Asians one of the biggest concerns of Asians are enhancing and enlarging their eyes. So what are the best ways to do this? Keep in mind that these tips are not just for Asians but can be applicable to everyone. Here are some key points that you may want to consider and try:
1. Tried eyes always makes you, of course, look tired, and they detract from your face. They bring your face down and makes it look a little bit duller. Solve this problem by using a good quality concealer (something with Salmon undertones because this conceals dark circles better, sometimes concealers with yellow undertones may make your undereyes look “ashy”). Then set your concealer with a good powder Recommendations: Bobbi Brown Corrector $22, Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder $22
2. Next using eyeliner is really important for creating a good shape for your eyes. Use liquid to create more blunt and definite lines and use pencils to create a more natural look by smudging the liner across lids. Recommendations: Urban Decay 27/7 Liners in Zero $16 or K-Palette 24 Hour Liner ~$16
3. A lot of clients that aren’t familiar with wearing false lashes sometimes feel very skeptical about using them due to concerns about comfort, but there are two things that you need to know: 1. False lashes will feel awkward at first, but if you wear them for 10-20minutes you are bound to get use to them and the comfort level will be eased and 2. If applied correctly, false lashes will make your eyes bigger by lifting it up and creating extra intensity/darkness shaping your eyes. Recommendations: Ardell #110 $5
4. Lastly, to bring out the eyes and brighten it a bit more you can use a little shimmer or highlighter on the inner corner of your eyes. This will defintely brighten your eyes and make you look a lot more ‘awake.’ Recommendations: Benefit Highbeam $24

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15. January 2009 by Susie Chhuor.

Occasionally I’ll have some lovely clients that come in with dry skin. This is always a problem for 1. me and 2. them. It’s a problem for me because it makes makeup application a lot more difficult to apply (even with primer) and for them because the foundation may look cracked on their skin. As a result, I always recommend to my clients a couple of things. With months time to prepare your skin here are some products that I recommend:

Eyes: Clinique All About Eyes
Face: Shiseido Benefiance Moisturizer or Shiseido White Lucent Moisturizer

Even though it’s winter time in Souther California, I must say that the sun has been beating on everyone’s back and the heat is breaking record highs (I know… I can’t believe it either). So I must must and for the third time, MUST stress the importance of sun protection! Protecting your skin is one of the biggest step that a lot of girls miss out on. Sunscreen is always essential for great, healthy, glowing skin. Even when the sun is not out there are strong UV lights that penetrates the cloud and makes it way on your skin. This can cause various problems including sun cancer, sun spots, and sun damaged skin. Even worst? You age faster! So to keep your face in tip top shape I’d highly recommend getting sunscreen with SPF 15+. Though that’s the standard recommendation I’d stay to aim for as high as you can go since the protection tends to wear off with daily activity! Here are some products that I use personally:

Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Cream For Face SPF 55 PA++
Shiseido Sun Protection Eye Cream SPF 32 PA++

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28. August 2008 by Susie Chhuor.

A lot of my clients always tell me that they don’t wear makeup because it’s too hard to use and apply.  Eye shadow is always the thing that gives people the biggest problems, but there are always other alternatives that are easy to apply and still give you the look of an eye shadow.

MAC’s paint pots are wonders!  They act as based for eye shadows to be layered on top of so that there is more color payoff and intenstity in the color, but they can also be worn alone to give a very subtle effects.  I use them all the time especially if I want to make sure that the make up stays put!  Some of my favorites are:

Bare Study - If you could only have one shade, this is it! It’s an absolutely gorgeoous light beigh with shimmer.  Swipe this on your eyelid and you are ready to go.  It can be worn alone or under eyeshadow.  Either way it looks fantastic.

Paintery - For more mature ladies who aren’t looking for shimmer this is it!  It’s a  nude color with a shimmerless undertone.  It is great for neutralizing the eyelid area and preparing for eyeshadow application!

Rubenesque/Indiewood - For ladies of med-dark complexion these are two colors that you would want to try!

For $16.50 a pot it is definitely worth the investment to get a large pot that functions as eye shadow and a base!  The best thing is a pot of this will last more than a year! I use mine daily and still have a decent amount!

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