The Three Products That Make The Difference
A couple of weeks ago, I slipped into Bellacara to collaborate with owner Celthia Corsino on day-to-evening makeup tips. If you haven't had Celthia work her magic on the current state of your makeup, I highly recommend making an appointment. She has makeup superpowers - like Wonder Woman type of superpowers!
While she was contouring and highlighting, we realized how similar our roles are in the self-care service industry. I've often thought about how we see ourselves versus how others see us. Imagine being in front of the lens of Annie Leibovitz or sitting for Kehinde Wiley? There's nothing quite as valuable as the perspective of a creative professional.
When I was younger, I used to get my makeup done just to see what new techniques were trending and how they could be applied. As I got older, I realized it wasn't the latest trends that I was interested in trying, but how to apply my makeup in a natural way that enhanced with luminescence instead of coverage. Now that I'm in my fifties, I have certainly noticed the new lines across my face, but also a few other nuances that come with aging. Thinning lips, thinning brows, and the Orange Peel chin come to mind.
Ah, the joys of aging. Knowing how to use makeup to fill in where the loss of collagen has taken away has become the new frontier. Learning to lean into these changes and remember to blend, blend, and then blend some more has helped me adjust through my fifties. Lips and eyes need a little more definition, but forgetting to blend your lipliner can be more detrimental than naturally thinning lips. Finding the perfect match liner to your lip color is worth the time and effort.
Aging with a bit of grace and dignity is on my aspirational list. The name of the game is MAINTAIN! Similar to the body's structure, there are ways to enhance the areas you want to be seen and disguise those that need minimizing. Seinfeld fans may recall "The Two-Faced Girlfriend" episode. We may not be able to walk around with perfect lighting, but we can use strategic highlighting and contouring without looking like a paint by numbers.
Here are a few tips I picked up during my session with Celthia:
Think about the planes of your face and what you want to come forward, and what you want to recede.
Build slowly by layering color. Blow off your brushes after picking up pigmented powder.
Invest in good brushes and then take care of them - clean regularly.
Converting daytime eyes to evening eyes requires a little drama. Deepening your shadow colors is necessary as the lighting changes in the evening.
To show the breadth of Celthia's talents, I videotaped our sessions and noted the products she used to take a bare-faced fifty-something from daytime polish to a sultry date night look. I learned a couple of things and walked away with some new GOAT products!
Alicia's GOAT makeup products from Bellacara
Celthia’s Makeup Rates:
Makeup Application: $175
Makeup Lesson (90-minute): $200
Bride Makeup: $275
Bridal Trial Session: $175
Bridesmaid (after bridal booking): $125
Contact Celthia for more information. I advise you to get her before her calendar gets full! That's another similar aspect to our businesses - when it's only you, there are only so many hours to go around!
