On the move!

Hi all!

As some of you know I've been trying to find ways of making this blogging thing happening more frequently but let me tell you something:

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? :)

So this will be my last post on blogspot, within a few days I will complete the move!
As I'm writing this I am also trying to figure out a way to link all my readers to our new home, but until then I'd love it if you took a second and followed me to:

PROMAKEUPSTORE'S NEW BLOG HOME

There are lots of new articles coming, from me as well as from guest bloggers in the industry, product reviews and of course the long awaited report from our first appearance at The Makeup Show Berlin will be featured on the new site!

AND there will be a GIVEAWAY coming up to celebrate! stay tuned and.. 

See you there! :)

Promakeupstore @ The Makeup Show Berlin!

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!!  

R.C.M.A. Research Council of Makeup Artists

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):

GossMakeupArtist: Cruelty Free Brushes

GossMakeupArtist: Cruelty Free Brushes

Zpalette vs Yaby palette + Koren Zander (EnKoreMakeup)!

Zena Shteysel, is the mastermind behind Zpalettes. She's an award winning US makeup artist and member of the Emmy award nominated Dancing With The Stars makeup team. If anyone knows the importance of being ready and organised it's Zena for sure. Besides being a real pro, she's also a lovely and kind person and I'm glad to have the wonderful Zpalettes in the catalog of Promakeupstore.
Promakeupstore carries both Yaby empty palettes and Zpalettes, which you prefer is actually very personal. Below is a picture, courtesy of Zena from Zpalette, showing the 2 palettes side by side for your comparison.

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.

Stick them on the bottom of the reluctant pan and voila!

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!

Wayne Goss on Yaby Cosmetics

Wayne Goss, popular Youtube reviewer gives his honest opinion on Yaby Cosmetics Eyeshadows and Pearl Paints!

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!

A new start for our store and a new blog name!

Hi everyone!

It's been a while since the last post on the Oscars and a lot has happened in between.
Our new website for Promakeupstore is about to launch and this blog will become a part or the new setup. All new updates will be shown at the bottom of each store page as they are published and as always I welcome readers to participate, comment and discuss the topics and the store.

Sales, promotions and give-aways will be announced on Twitter, Facebook obviously, but there will also be special blog promotions, the first one being around our 3 year anniversary next September.

The store couldn't do so well without all its loyal customers (yes that would be YOU) so I think it's only fair to give something back and share whats going on behind the scenes, in the office, on my jobs as a makeup artist (not nearly as glamourous as you might think trust me) and in what little spare time I have left.

A new start justifies a new name, and what better name than what sums up this life.

It's a beautiful life everyone, let's celebrate it together.

Thank you for joining and have a great day!

Monique

Oscars 2011: Best and Worst Hair & Makeup

Old Hollywood glamour, grandeur and all that good stuff.
Oscar Night 2011 is the grand finale to Award Show Season and the last chance to get it right.
First off, congratulations to all the teams working Oscar Night. I've done my share of red carpet in Holland which is by no means as glamorous as Oscar Night, but still.. It's crazy, it's insane, it's madness so to all who worked it: HATS off to you!

Now for my favorites and not so favorites:

Mila Kunis: much has been said about that gorgeous lavender Elie Saab dress although I had to look twice to make sure she actually had her breasts covered by those see-through lace panel inserts.
Gorgeous eyemakeup and the lip colour was the right side of neutral. The hair: what can I say.. I do like my updo's a little more polished and less "textured" than this. To me it just looks a bit unkempt for red carpet, but I do appreciate there is a fine line between polished & effortless and prom queen and that it's hard to get it right. Good thing team Kunis didn't go for the latter. I did catch her continually trying to sweep the lock out of her left eye, and it kinda bothered me too.
Oh well. I do love Mila so she can't do much wrong really.

Illamasqua press materials from IMATS London

Even though I didn't bring back any products from Illamasqua when I was at IMATS London, I did attend the demo by Alex Box on Sunday and upon entering the main stage we all got a little black bag with some promo materials.

Now, on that demo... it was called "makeup as a performance" and while I do "get" that

Christian Dior Collection Voyage Lip- and Eye palettes from Schiphol Airport

Hi everyone!
I've been back from IMATS London a week so it's about time I did a post about what I brought back with me. I'll do some reviews of the show and the lectures I attended in a different post.
Here are my favorites from my shopping haul:

Of course my shopping spree started right at Schiphol airport! Oh the joys of being able to browse the stores by myself :) The only problem was: what to buy!
First treasure that caught my eye were these beauties from Christian Dior.
Only available in tax-free of course and all the more covetable because of it.

These are called Cannage Color Collection (Collection Voyage) and I got the Eye Palette and the Lip Palette. 

It's the small things in life! Dove Calming Night Shower

Dove discontinued this part of their line for reason beknownst only to them, because I don't know anyone who does not LOVE this product, including myself.

Dr. Renaud Azulene Calming Rich Cream

I love all things Azulene because of it's calming, non-irritating properties for the skin, and especially in the foul, cold winter weather, at some point we all are in need of a product that will just feed, soothe and repair our skin.
Azulene is derived from Chamomile, which has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory

Paula Begoun Exfoliating 8% Alpha Hydroxy Acid Gel

I have been a huge fan of Paula Begoun since the mid-80's when she came out with her book "Blue Eyeshadow should be Illegal" which stumbled upon in a bookstore in New York City.    I found it both hilarious and VERY on point. I bought the Beauty Bible and was hooked from then on.

Nouvital Azulen Cleansing Oil

I'm going to start the new year fresh with a couple of posts on my skin care routine, because after all, the basis of every beautiful makeup is good skin.
This routine is largely identical to what I like to use on clients, specially regarding cleansing.

This jewel of a product here is one of my staples and everyone loves it.
If I (or the client) wears a lot of eyemakep

Embryolisse Lotion Micellaire

First of all, Happy New Year to all my readers and welcome to my first post of 2011!

I'm a big fan of most Embryolisse products as you all probably know by now, so I wanted to start off the new year with a post about a new product of theirs that I have more than happily added to our catalog.
As you know I try