Where to find: drug stores, some department stores
Price: about $30

I was at Shoppers Drug Mart the other week, and on a whim, I decided to buy Vichy Dermablend Concealer. (I'm usually a lot better disciplined and wait until days where SDM offers bonus points for their Optimum cardholders).

The $28 pricepoint did put a dent in the pocket, but I'm happy to say that my was it worth it! Vichy Concealer promises 16 hour coverage and it delivers. I've used it on my break-outs and usually depending on the stage of the break-out, especially during the early stages when the trouble area is a bit more oily, any type of concealer tends to slide off. I've tried Boing by Benefit, MAC Studiofix, Make-up Forever's Cream Palette

You just need a tiny amount for blemishes - literally a small dot-size. I squeeze this tiny amount onto the back of my left hand and then I use either a q-tip or a concealer brush to apply to the problem break-out area. The, I use a light dab of loose powder to lock the concealer in place.

For using this under the eyes, I recommend mixing it with a tiny bit of lotion to loosen up the thick consistency. Otherwise, the formula looks too thick and cakey for the delicate under eye area.

Photo courtesy of Vichy

Brows are one of my absolute favourite features of the face to do up! It is amazing the wonders a great pair of brows can really produce for your face! A great set of brows can instantly:

• make you look more polished
• add dimension to cheekbones
• help to streamline your face shape and
• give you an instant facelift.

Whats not to love?! Good brows are just as essential as that morning routine of eyeliner and mascara.

How to get good brows?
The age-old question. For the amount of great natural brows out there (congratulations, you are the envy of us all!), there are a significant number that have gone awry: overplucked, underplucked, lack of a shape, sparse, too short, the list goes on.

The shape that you want to aim for should closely follow your own natural shape (you don't want to completely alter your brow shape. Use your natural brow as a guideline for a shape that is most flattering on your face.) Tweeze away any strays that grow away from the dominant brow area and try the following steps to get your best brows (use diagram below as a guide).

1. Use a long pencil and hold it vertically against the edge of the nostril as a reference point as to where brows should begin. Tweeze away any eyebrow hairs that are inwards towards the nose.

2. Now, move the pencil towards the outer-edge of the iris still holding it in a vertical direction. This is the approximate area where the highest part of the arch should occur. Again, work with what nature gave you and you'll avoid having that perma-surprised look!

3. Lastly, take the pencil still holding the bottom part against the edge of the nose and tilting the top portion of the pencil towards the outer edge of the eye. The eyebrow should end where the tip of the pencil hits the browbone.

To fill in brows
Use a brow powder (that either matches or is a couple of shades lighter than your brows) with an angled brush. Use a light touch and draw short, feathery strokes in the direction of hair growth. Keep in mind that you want to mimic tiny hairs on the eyebrow by drawing these feathery strokes. Using a heavy hand and drawing one continuous line on the brows can border drag queen-like and scream unnatural.

Brows gone wrong...
Remember if you make a mistake and pluck more than you had initially intended, brows do grow back (well, to a certain extent). As a temporary fix, use the tips for filling in brows to fake a perfect set until the real ones grow back. For those that are a bit hesitant to pick up the tweezers, go see your trusted professional to have your brows shaped, and save money by doing the upkeep yourself. Believe me, the pain is a small price to pay for a look that is so refined. Post-tweezing, you'll definitely be raising eyebrows...and not just your own!

August 23rd - Another beautiful day plus gorgeous bride and bridal party! See, I told you it's hard to make Hennie look bad...same goes for her knock-out bridal party despite a 5:30 AM wake-up time! Thank you guys for a great time.

Click here to view more from behind the scenes of Hennie's big day.

Generally, the most universally flattering shape for eyeliner application is a line that gradually increases in thickness from the inner corner of the eye to the outer edge. A good reference point for the outer edge is usually where your eyelashes stop. For an everyday, look you don't want to take eyeliner out too much further than that, unless your intent is to look dramatic!

The line should also be drawn right atop the lash line AND into the lashes - absolutely no gaps allowed between the drawn line and your lashes! Pressing the eyeliner into your eyelashes also enhances the lash line, helping your eyelashes to appear fuller. The final result should bring your eye 'forward' and make the eyes appear larger.

Where to stop drawing the line?

Usually it's best to stop the line at the outer corner where the lash line ends. I like to extend the line slightly and draw it slightly upwards to achieve an eye-opening look. Extending the line beyond the natural lash line also helps with eyes that are set closer together. This method helps to create the illusion of pulling close-set eyes apart, bringing them in balance with the rest of your features.

Having trouble?

If you're having trouble applying eyeliner, use pencil and start by drawing short strokes (see bottom photo. Use a connect-the-stroke like method to create a smooth flowing line.

To help with an unsteady hand, try to rest your elbow atop the counter/table of where you're getting ready, or you can try resting your hand on your cheek as you apply the eyeliner. These methods helps to give a shaky hand a steady surface to balance upon in order to draw on a smooth line. And remember, you can always clean up untidy edges with a q-tip. In the end, practice makes perfect so even if you don't master the technique initially, keep on trying and soon enough you'll be an eyelining make-up master!

Contouring with make-up is a fast and inexpensive way to skim pounds off the face. If applied correctly, contouring make-up can streamline the face, detract attention away from a 'double' chin and chisel the cheekbones. So for those of us who would rather not go under the knife in the name of beauty, here are some alternate (and less hazardous!) tricks to slim the face using make-up.

The basic formula is:

CONTOURING = HIGHLIGHTING + LOWLIGHTING (aka simply 'contouring')

To achieve a contoured look, there are generally two face products required:
1. A product that is one to two shades lighter than the client's skin tone (for highlighting and bringing areas of the face forward)
2. A product that is one to two shade darker than the client's skin tone (for lowlighting and making areas of the face appear deeper).

The manner in which you contour can depend on the products you use, but the pattern of application is generally the same:

i. Place/blend the lighter shade on the area of our face that you want to bring forward. Areas to highlight include:
• under the eyebrow and above the eyebrow just atop the browbone
• the skinny of the nose
• under the eyes
• atop the cheekbone

ii. Place/blend the darker shade on the area of the face that you want to ‘deepen’. These areas include:
• below browbone
• sides of the nose (instant rhinoplasty!)
• under the cheekbone
• under the jawline (slim the face)
• sides of the forehead (streamline the face)

Traditionally, make-up artists use two shades of cream foundation to contour the face. These two shades are in addition to the matching skin tone colour foundation that is used as a base and to blend everything on the client. But for the everyday woman, applying three different shades of foundation in one sitting is likely impractical. A better way for everyday contouring is to use a contouring powder and a highlighting powder. Applied in the same method, bronzing powder can be used to exaggerate the hollows of the cheeks, contour the top sides of the face, under the chin, and along the jawline for a defined look.

TIP: Avoid buying bronzing powders that have sparkle/glitter in them when looking for a contouring powder. If it does have sparkle, concentrate the application only on areas where the sun would hit to avoid glitter overkill. i.e. cheekbones, sides of the forehead. If your contouring powder has sparkle and glitter, skip the highlighting powder.

Now, to highlight try either a shimmer powder or a highlighting cream. Apply with a light touch under the eyebrow and then above the eyebrow atop the browbone, along the top of the cheekbone, and blend a dot on the inner corner of the eyelid. Remember the placement of the shimmer should be strategic - otherwise you can go from shimmer goddess to shiny mess!

If you’re anything like me, a page full of text just doesn’t cut it – give me pictures, videos, the works! So with that in mind, I did some extensive googling to find tips about contouring the face. Check out the links below for more details, pictures and even online video demos!
http://styles101.homestead.com/conhigh.html
http://beauty.expertvillage.com/videos/contour-makeup.htm
http://homegarden.expertvillage.com/videos/fashion-color-highlighting-contouring.htm