Light The Strobe Lighting

In today's beauty world the YouTube vloggers have made it a snap for us to up our makeup game. Applying your makeup daily has suddenly entered into an unprecedented realm of technique. Contouring is the one that comes to mind, and the art of applying dark creams and powders to the hollows of your face to produce face slimming, face shaping effects can result in giving the average person an incredibly sculpted look. Truth be told, contouring does take a bit of skill and a bit of product to get the right result which can sometimes means it's not for everyone.

Rest assured there's a new makeup trend that is taking the beauty industry by storm and it's easier than you think. Strobing, is "the new black" in makeup application and it gives you the same sort of sculpted look as contouring, but in a much softer and dewy-er way. 

Strobing is all about the highlighter-which means that it's main component is focused on ONE product which you probably already own already!

What is Strobing? It's all about light-think soft and bright. It's about applying highlighter-light and only light-to the parts of your face that the sun would normally illuminate. The look is a fresh faced, dewy result that says healthy in a "I just had an amazing facial" kind of way. It's similar to highlighting but there's a bit more to it than simple highlighting. The best part is anyone can get the look if you follow these easy steps:

Start with a moisturizer. Add a gorgeous luminizer like Kevyn Aucoin's  The Celestial Skin Liquid Lighting to your foundation.This should be the base to give your face that gorgeous dewy look. Avoid anything with a matte finish unless you are very oily. Then apply a highlighter to the areas of you face where sunlight would kiss; the tops of the cheek bones, temples, down the bridge of the nose, the brow bone and the forehead. If you have an oily skin, you may want to use a light hand, so as to not leave the skin looking greasy and shiny.

Cream highlighters like Smashbox's L.A. Light's Lip and Cheek Color Stick in Hollywood & Highlight or Kevyn Aucoin's The Creamy Glow Duo #4  work best to melt into your skin and create a dewy, strobing sensation! Champagne shades of highlighter are great for all skin tones, but if you are super fair, opt for a whiter, silvery looking highlighter like Hollywood & Highlight.

Jump start you summer with the hottest new makeup trend  that's sure to leave you selfie ready! Of course you will want the whole world to see your bright, lit from within glow that is gorgeous and easy. Then you will want to turn up the disco music and strobe lights so you can dance the night away!

Today's Special:Product Highlight

It's summertime in the city and everyone wants to look and feel fresh and renewed! The warm temperatures and the good times are coming so you want to make sure you are looking your best. Who doesn't want to look luminous? Who doesn't want that complimentary, envious glow that makes all your friend inquire about what's different? A highlighter is the key and if you haven't heard about a cosmetic highlighter, it's time to up your make-up game.

Highlighters are the easiest way to give your complexion that gorgeous glow and they are ever-so-simple to apply. I say this all the time and chances are if you have been to my store, The Candy Bar, you have heard me say it;  a product like Kevyn Aucoin's The Celestial Powder in Candelight can take years off your face and make you the envy of everyone you know. Applied evenly to the top of your cheekbone, your brow bone and down the center of your nose, this light, shimmery powder can cause others to inquire about your special "glow". It's like this: You've just bumped into a friend you haven't seen in months at the grocery store. While you are answering her questions about your husband and the kids, her quizzical stare at your face and the distracted manner in which she responds to you is all the answer you need: SHE'S NOT LISTENING TO YOU BECAUSE SHE'S WONDERING WHAT IT IS ON YOUR CHEEKS THAT IS GIVING YOU THAT GORGEOUS GLOW.

Highlighters today are readily available (thank you Kim Kardashian) and come in many packages-creams,  powders and  liquids- and some are packaged with a contour powder or cream to fill in the hollows of your cheeks to expertly to give your face shape. 

A kit like Kevyn Aucoin's The Creamy Glow Duo #4 is the perfect on the go contour and highlight companion. On the right, Candlelight in a cream and on the left, a contour cream in Medium. Users can apply with a brush or their fingers and blend, blend, blend for a gorgeous summer glow.  Apply the Medium cream under the hollows of the cheek (make a fish face ie; suck you cheeks in) and blend a small amount with your finger. Then use a separate finger to apply the Candlelight on the tops of the cheek bones and blend for maximum benefit and shine. 

Grab yourself some summer fun with a fresh, new highlighter and start taking in all the compliments of your friends. Of course, tell them Candy sent ya!

Illuminati Power

Was Beyonce flashing the "Illuminati" sign?
Who is the Illuminati you ask? My daughter tell me that the Illuminati are a secret group founded for only the "incredibly rich and powerful". And I say to her, "and you believe this crap?" But he Illuminati are not what today's post is about, sorry to disappoint. That's a post for another day. The term Illuminati comes from the Greek Illuminatus which means "enlightened", and while I'm sure Beyonce is enlightened about many things, the Illuminati I speak of today refers to a powerful glow...to one's skin.

Summer is the best season to apply a sexy, ILLUMINATING glow onto sun kissed skin, and there are several ways to showcase one's luminous, powerful glow.

Liquid:

Products like the one pictured here, Smashbox's Artificial Light Luminizing Lotion in Glow, is a great way to kick up you summer sexy all over your face and body! These days I'm all about the BB or CC creams as my primer/foundation. By adding two pumps of this to your everyday foundation, tinted moisturizer or BB cream, then mixed together, gives a complexion enhancer that adds color and the perfect glow to your skin.  You the envy of everyone. You can also mix this with you favorite body lotion to give arms and legs a Hollywood glow.

Powder:

Hello gorgeous! The Celestial Powder in Candlelight by Kevyn Aucoin is a must have in any woman's makeup bag. Great for all 365 days a year, Candlelight really revs up summer cheeks and eyes with a finely milled powder that will not look dry and will give you just right amount of radiance. Where to apply exactly?
Just to the tops of the cheekbones, before your blush, and to the area under the eye to diffuse the look of fine lines and wrinkles. Apply lightly between the two eyes, above the brow and down the bridge of the nose. A powder like this can also be applied to the decollete.

Oils:

A tradition of the  French Polynesian women, this Nars Illuminating Body Glow is the most decadent way to get that Tahitian glow. Infused with Moni de Tahiti oil and  rich coconut oils, smooth this amazing smelling oil over-already dressed- arms and legs. No need for hosiery here! This decadent oil is all you need to make your legs look toned and supple with the most amazing, light sheen.

So Iluminati men, be warned...
The beauty of a well placed illuminator on any woman just may leave him utterly powerless!