beauty

Madison K. Philadelphia

A few days ago, I had a rib injury which has prevented me from enjoying my daily river runs. Today I decided to just walk a few miles, so I headed out towards NoLibs to visit a nail salon I used to frequent and have always loved. While walking north on 2nd street, about a block north of Spring Garden, I discovered this most eye catching pink/black/white designed boutique, Madison K.

Initially, I had never heard of Madison K. Later, while browsing the stores website, I realized I have seen the standout boutique in Bucks County a few years ago. The Philadelphia location has been open for a handful of weeks.

The boutique is adorable. Its filled with all types of beauty products and accessories and even has a small section for men! How adorable!

Check out the Madison K. boutique at 600 N. 2nd St. in Philadelphia!

Summer Days!

Hi, Everyone!

It’s been sometime since I’ve posted.

Summer in Philadelphia has been fabulous. Hot and steamy, just how I like it! Not much rain until recently, but that’s July and August!

Sweaty summer months call for an awesome matte powder, and one that I’ve been loving comes from H&M and is only around $10! Really need give this product a shout out! … We’ll come back to this…

For the past few months, I’ve raved about Cinema Secrets Pro Cosmetics Ultralucent Colorless Setting Powder. This product is AMAZING! I’ve used this setting powder on male and female clients, for film and stills, as well as on myself.

You can find me rocking this powder at work, at the gym, and everything in between. It holds so well, keeps everything in place, and totally allows me to sweat (SUCH A FACE SWEATER) through the 90+ degree days in Philly, with zero transfer.

As much as I love this product, I’ve been cheating on it with the powder I found at H&M. Unlike the Cinema Secrets loose powder, the H&M Matte Powder comes in a pressed compact.

I tend to highly dislike pressed powders, because they eventually break. I’ve spent hours of my life resetting compacts and pressed powders, eye shadows, bronzers, highlighters, etc. with alcohol, attempting to piece them back together. In the past this technique has worked, but I’ve found that its not really worth my time.

When the H&M matte powder was almost finished, it finally broke (not surprised). However, it did last WAY LONGER than compacts I’ve purchased in the past. The compact itself is slender and houses a mirror. This product easily fits in any tiny clutch and had been my go to for months, for the one or two products I’d always carry. I haven’t made an H&M trip recently, but when I do, I will absolutely pick up another one.

The H&M matte powder was a random purchase. The line was long that day, and what else do I have to do except put my head down on my phone or play with the impulse products that stare at you while you wait, right? I find that the products I impulsively buy the most are lipsticks, mascaras and translucent setting powders. Impulse buys are usually on the cheaper side, so I’m never very upset if they’re not that great. The H&M matte powder was a fabulous impulse buy, and I would highly recommend it!

Comparing these two products, I’d say they’re very similar, both in texture and transparency, and both last HOURS. With both, they tend to come up a little light, and require a sweep of bronzer or color, to avoid looking washed out. The hold on both is wonderful. I hate to say it, but some of my longer days, I totally fall asleep with my makeup on (BAD MOVE). Early am perfect cheek bones, check. Both of these products last THAT long.

Guy’s, snag these if you can. Both are on the more inexpensive side and last thru TONS of uses.

Cinema Secrets products can be found at Sephora or you can purchase it here.

The H&M powder is (obviously) in stores but can also be purchased online at this link.

Like always, I love reader feedback. If you’ve used either of these products, I’d love to hear your opinon! Comment below or send me an email with your review!

Thanks for reading! Hope everyone is enjoying the summer!

Until next time, Friends!

Stay FAB,

-R

 

 

Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Crayon

I remember being so excited for the Marc Jacobs cosmetic line to debut. I even wrote a post on how the line was previewing early at Sephora.

I also remember when I received the Highliner Gel Crayon in Brown(out) as a free gift shortly after the debut. I may have used it once, was not very impressed and tossed it in my kit thinking I’d use it for something. Which, I’d like to add, was very upsetting seeing as how I was so excited about the line, and the press the brand was receiving was incredible.

Well, until yesterday, I had not used it. I randomly saw the pencil and decided I’d play around with it. Immediately I was reminded of why I didn’t like the pencil to begin with and ultimately decided I was going to write about it.

Now, almost all of my posts are about products that I love and think everyone should know about. I rarely have negative feedback and tend to only write about the positive.

However, I think this pencil needs some critiquing.

First, the pencil, which is called a “gel” liner, is incredibly hard and far from other gel liners I have loved in the past. The first time I used the twist-up pencil, It broke.

The color looks beautiful, with hints of gold. However, the color does not directly transfer to the skin. It’s very light and hard to blend.

I was really expecting this product to be more “high-end” and of better quality.

Now, in the products defense, I have not used another Highliner color. There is a possibility that different colors hold different qualities, and may be a softer material or truer to it’s color. This is something I’m curious about and am looking forward to exploring next time I’m at Sephora.

I’m curious if my readers have used any of the Highliner Crayons and if so, did you like them? What colors have you tried?

I love interacting with my readers and it’s always fun to receive comments and emails! Please feel free to contact me… let’s discuss!

Thanks for stopping by, everyone! Until next time 🙂

-R

Shooting with StoneKap Production for The National Inventors Hall of Fame

Hi Everyone!

Something I’ve been trying to find time to write about, is a recent shoot I worked on in Philly with StoneKap Entertainment for The National Inventors Hall of Fame.

StoneKap is located in Ohio and films throughout the country. The National Inventors Hall of Fame is located in DC with their home office also located in Ohio. StoneKap and The National Inventors Hall of Fame have been working together for a few years.

The shoot took place in a really cool office space that housed the Bresslergroup. The Bresslergroup homepage describes the company as “A research-driven product innovation lab.” And it was just that. A completely open floor plan with high ceilings and large industrial styled windows, a beautiful common space greeted me upon entering. The work space and desks of employees sat behind a glass cube of a conference room, where we shot our interview. The desks themselves were really modern and rather spaced out. The walls were littered with huge white scratch pad paper that I can only imagine to be projects and ideas and work. We also did a few takes in the lab area.

When I was contacted by and accepted the offer from StoneKap, I was beyond excited. I received very little details about the shoot, my communications were mostly about who my contacts were and who I’d be working with.  Upon arriving and meeting the team, I met JD Albert. JD was the subject for our shoot and is being inducted into The National Inventors Hall of Fame for creating E-Ink, the ink that is in e-readers such as the Kindle.

Male grooming is fairly easy and JD needed very little makeup and few touch-ups, mostly to control shine. He was very soft spoken and didn’t mind the makeup. Shortly after, we began filming.

During those two hours of shooting, I learned a lot about JD, what he has created over the years, and what Bresslergroup works on. And I was beyond fascinated.

Between filming, and while the crew was setting up their gear in the lab area, JD showed me a product that the Bresslergroup had recently created. Designed for Temptu, his group created an all-in-one handheld airbrush machine. JD also mentioned that a professional version of the product was in the works, and I cannot wait to purchase one!

We wrapped the day with a few shots in the lab area.

I’m so happy to have met and worked with the team at StoneKap, The National Inventors Hall of Fame, the freelance sound guy and of course JD Albert. I hope to have some stills and reels to share with everyone in the next coming months, after JD is inducted. I also really look forward to seeing what the team has created with our time. I absolutely love working on production based projects!

Hope you all enjoyed reading about the shoot! As always, thank you for reading!

-R

New Images

Hi Everyone!

 

So excited to share some new work with you!

Check out recent Images of the Lovely AnnaLisa and Emely, shot by Chris Loupos In Philadelphia.

Enjoy!

-R

New Studio Work

Hi Guys!

 

I recently linked up with a Photographer new to Philadelphia, Chris Loupos, and we’ve been playing around shooting at a pretty little studio in Fishtown.

 

Chris is super cool and easy to get along with. His ideas intrigue me and he’s incredibly open to hearing mine. We hope to work on a lighting series and a decade piece soon.

 

I’m so excited to share these images. I’ve been putting together a decade mood board for a while now, but with a dedicated photographer on board, I’m really focusing on designing the shoot and getting it in studio asap.

 

I hope to post some new images soon.

 

Thanks for reading, everyone!

 

-R

Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Palette

A product that I’ve recently acquired but have yet to write about is the Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Palette.

kat von d

Available at Sephora and retailing for only $46, this magnetic palette is a key item to throw in my bag and keep with me all day. Unlike the Anastasia contour kit, this palette has a huge mirror which is great for on the go applications and touch ups.

 

3 lighter shades and 3 darker, all provide fabulous pigmentation while still keeping their blend-ability. The lightest highlight and banana colors, Lucid and Lyric, are pretty standard to most contour kits in the past year or so. The third lightest shade named Levitation is more of a peach color. I find this color to work well for under eye circles, layered as a base blending the other lighter shades out. The 3rd tray in most other powder palettes, is usually some kind of shimmer highlight. I rarely find myself using those shimmer shades however, they do look nice on Brides.

 

Now, all of the contour colors in the palette are great. The darkest shade, Subconscious, reminds me of the deepest color in my Master Class palette, just slightly warmer. The medium shade, Sombre, is fabulous for all over bronzing. And the lightest contour shade is Shadowplay. This color reminds me of the muddiest color in the Anastasia palette, but again slightly warmer with some orange tones. Blending all 3 of these colors starting with the deepest into my highlight, sculpts the perfect cheek bone. I also like the tiniest bit of the deep Subconscious shade around the hair line and jaw bone to bring color and shape to the face.

 

Something fun I’ve used this palette for: Smudging out my eyeliner using the darkest shade Subconscious. Personally, I love to wear my eyeliner to the shape of my eye, not too overdrawn, and smudged out. To achieve this look I first start with a gel pencil liner. After smudging my liner with a brush to the shape of my eye, slightly higher on my outer corners, I then set the liner with a black shadow. Using the darkest color in the Kat palette, I create a shadow above my liner, ultimately blending the black shadow with the brown shadow, blending up towards my crease. The color seems to fade out with no distinctive lines. Give it a try!

 

Overall, I really enjoy this palette. The price point of $46 is incredibly reasonable for the size of the pans but the colors are truly what make the Kat Von D Shade + Light Palette shine. Long lasting and rarely requiring a touch up, this has been my favorite highlight and contour purchase thus far. I don’t know that I’ve found anything negative about it and would highly recommend it to others! 🙂

 

Have you tried this palette? Please share your reviews!

Questions? Leave a comment!

 

Thanks for reading!

Stay fabulous, friends!

 

-R

Feedback on the new site

I’ve been incredibly busy trying to promote my new website and existing business. And with that, I would love to hear from my viewers! Please leave some comments about things you like, dislike and would like to see. My goal is to continuously improve and everyone needs critical feedback to do so!

Many thanks in advance!

-R