Freddy Rodriguez is Dope…Plus We Have Matching Scars! Whee!

Last week, at a shoot for Bust Magazine I connected with a client over (of all things) a scar. It seems that Freddy Rodriguez and I have almost the exact same scar in almost the exact same place from having had the chicken pox.

He actually pointed it out – Which is really bananas since I notice everything about faces almost immediately (He also thinks I look like Demi Moore – isn’t he a doll?). And the timing couldn’t have been better. You see, I’ve hated this scar since getting over the ‘pox’ and I’ve always told myself that at some point I would have it lasered or whatever. But, laser is EXPENSIVE. And, you take a chance that you still might have a scar – just a flat scar instead of a depressed hole (which for me, happens to be conveniently located right in between my eyes).

Anyway just a few days before this shoot I went out and purchased this over the counter pock mark filler.

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You Don’t Need Benetint…

When you have Jello. And at $1.19 a box, that’s a much better deal than Benetint (And it tastes really yummy!). I never really understood the hot fuss over that shiz anyway – It’s watery and streaky and has a nail polish applicator. WTF? That’s not conducive to successfully blending a product, and blending is the key to everything pretty in make-up.

I personally like to use Strawberry. It’s not as harsh looking as Cherry and it is definitely more wearable during the day.

Plus as an added bonus, you can use the powdery crystals to exfoliate your lips to make them look softer…Which makes them look cuter and the boys really dig a girl with nice lips.

So here’s how you do it…

Get one package of jello.
Stick your finger under a drop of running water.
Stick the finger into the jello mix (grab a glob)
Smush it around on your lips.
Done.

At some point I’m going to demo how to do your entire face with things you’ve got around the house. You’ll love it – and will never have any excuse not to wear make-up ever again.

I’m so good to you.

Go Green

This is the best face mask – Possibly ever. It’s 100% natural, and a jar of it will last you a long time.

‘Indian Healing Clay’ from Aztec Secret is available at most health food stores (I found it at Whole Foods), and works fabulously for deep pore cleansing.

I like to mix it with a little bit of apple cider vinegar – for additional skin brightening.

And now…I’m off. Sorry to cut this short today, but it’s Friday and I’m desperate to hit the beach and soak up some sun! Have a great weekend!

I’m So MacGyver…

Mr. Devyatkin? Are you out there? If you are…Then this one, is for you.
…

I have a difficult time focusing on things I don’t like or find particularly interesting. Growing up, two of those things were math and science. I can barely bring myself to talk about math class as it relates to my youth, mostly because my experience with it was…NOT GOOD. Science wasn’t my strongest suit either but I do have a softness for it. After all, without cosmetic chemists we wouldn’t have mascara – And a life without mascara is not a life at all.

Now, I’m not going to sit here and pretend I remember a plethora of things from science classes of days past. Because, I don’t. However, the one thing that I do remember from my 10th grade science class is a very important thing – A thing that’s been my saving grace whenever I’m caught without eyeliner (Or dark eyeshadow).

And, it takes less than 1 minute.

The next time you’re out, and your friends decide to go for drinks and you’re caught without eye make-up…Just reach for one of your utensils…And then email me to say ‘Thank you’

Watch the video to see what I’m talking about.

*Edited to add: I’m new at this video thing, and still working out the kinks. Any Vlogging experts out there that can offer some pointers???*

What’s A Girl Gotta Do To Stave Off Some Cellulite?!

My doctor recently suggested I cut back on my caffeine intake. I guess showing up at her office with a large coffee, whilst complaining about not sleeping very well, tipped her off that maybe I should drink less. Something about my ADD and caffeine and being hyper and stuff. Whatever. She’s totally right, but I love my morning coffee!

Since then, I have switched to half regular/half decaf…Only, I drink twice as much now, which basically makes my effort completely pathetic.

A few weeks ago, I was super excited when I read a beauty book that mentioned that caffeinated creams were the ‘thing’ right now. I’ll try anything once…Especially if it’s going to keep me looking young, or give me soft skin, or in general make me look like a hot piece of ass.

One of the stand out tips in the book was that the celebs (Hi Tyra) are exfoliating with coffee grinds. Supposedly doing this keeps your skin firm and prevents cellulite. I like firm skin and I hate cellulite so this seemed like a beauty tip from God.

Nothing fancy here – You can use whatever coffee is on sale, making it even more appealing because its affordable (and also natural).

So, I started mixing my half regular coffee with half decaf and took the other half of the caffeinated grinds and put them in a little jar to keep in the shower.

I’ve been slathering myself up with coffee grinds 2-3 times a week for almost 3 weeks now. I love it. My skin feels great and I swear I feel more awake in the morning, but that could be (and totally is) entirely mental.

I don’t usually exfoliate at night, but I just got in from a run, and I’m feeling thin after sweating out these killer margaritas that I had last night…And, I figure it’s as good a time as any to firm up. I open the jar…And then there’s this…

MOLD. Some kind of fungus of some sort.

Um, the beauty book didn’t say anything about mold. In fact it didn’t give any tips on how to package the grinds – So, maybe this is my own fault for taking liberties with storage. But, every other beauty product comes in a jar or a bottle or a tube. Even coffee comes in a tin can. WTF!?

Not to knock the book, or the writers of said book (which I will not mention because obviously it isn’t very clear)…But, if I were writing a book full of beauty tips I would make it a point to be thorough. And, not only that…But, I’d make it a point to test every single thing before I wrote about it and tried to sell it to the masses.

I’m upset now. What a lame tip.

Anyone with thoughts about storage? Am I overlooking something? The grinds were dry!!! How could they get moldy???

F*ck the Cabaret Law

I went out a lot in the 90s – And anyone who went out in NYC in the mid to late 90s understands the distinction between club kid and raver. I never wore a pacifier or candy necklace – and I wouldn’t have been caught dead in a ridiculous pair of wide leg ufo pants. I was a club kid.

This is me in 1999 on my way to Limelight:

The funny thing, is that here I am at my senior prom just a few hours before the previous picture was taken:

Aw – Don’t we look so innocent? And prom – like.

I love that these photos reflect a time in my life when I felt invincible – They truly are a testament to what it’s like to grow up in New York. The paradox of being a High School student by day and a club kid at night – Is really exclusive to a New York upbringing. But, what I love more than all of that…Is my make-up.

It was the first time I had ever had my make-up done at MAC – During a point in time when MAC was the ‘it’ make-up to have. I remember walking to the Spring St. store after getting my hair done at John Dellaria on West Broadway – With an extremely specific vision for how I wanted my make-up done. I wanted to look glowy and dewey like the ads for the Max Factor Mid Summer’s Night Dream collection (Yeah – That should have been a red flag right there that I wanted to be a make-up artist)…

By far, the best part of the whole experience was the custom lip gloss! This was before Mac had lip laquor, or lip gelee…This was even before they had dozens of different kinds of lipglass. And yeah, I totally felt all special and shit because I got to leave the store with a little tub of custom color lipglass that had been mixed just for me.

Nine years later, custom lipglass is still one of my favorite things. Ever. You take a little bit of pigment, and a tube of clear lip glass and the possibilities are seriously endless.

Here are some of my favorite custom color blends for you to try:

-2 parts Coco Beach + 1 part Fuchsia

-1 part Coco Beach + 1 part Vanilla

-2 parts Fairylite + 1 part Fuchsia

-2 parts Vanilla + 1 part Rose

-1 part Kitschmas + 1 part naked

Zuleikha Robinson

Another picture from the Carnegie Hall shoot.

Photo by Jesse
Retouching by Dina – The best retoucher. Ever.
Make-up by me