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I was so thrilled to be able to spend last week in my long lost city of NYC. I lived there for awhile when I was in my early 20s and loved it, so I always jump at an opportunity to get back up north when I can. I had really been wanting to take another pro training class at Temptu for awhile now, so my husband and I decided to make a family trip out of it and stay long enough to visit with a close friend of ours who lives up there. On Saturday we drove up to Virginia and spent the night with some friends who live just outside of DC, then hopped the train the next afternoon for the 3.5hr trip to NYC. So much more relaxing than flying or driving! Plus my son, who is 2, absolutely loves trains, so he was pretty much in heaven. 
Once we arrived in the city, we checked into our hotel and basically crashed for the rest of the evening. Traveling with a 2yr old is exhausting! My class was on Monday at the Temptu offices, which are located in Chelsea. I love that as a makeup artist there is always something new to learn, even for the most advanced artist. It is so important to always try to improve your skills and try out new techniques, so I was very excited to see what the Bridal Airbrush class had to offer. 
Our instructor for the day was Judith Graham, a makeup artist in NYC who is a certified airbrush makeup expert. There were three other artists taking the class with me that day who were all at different stages in their careers. It was very interesting to get to talk with each one about their experiences in the industry, and what the markets were like in the areas they lived! The class covered everything from business and marketing, to product knowledge and practical application. It was a great chance to ask questions about some of the products I hadn't used before, and to demo them to see how they work. Even though I have been airbrushing for 3 years now, I still learned some new techniques and tips that I can't wait to start using in my everyday work with my bridal clients. 
After class, I met up with my husband and son and we had dinner at Republic, a super tasty noodle shop in Union Square. Then we just walked around the city for awhile before heading back to the hotel to sleep. Tuesday we met up with our friend Christopher for brunch at Cafeteria. The waffles and the mac & cheese there are my two favorite things on the menu! So delicious. After eating, we took our son to the Central Park Zoo, and Heckscher Playground. It was so much fun strolling through the park, and the weather couldn't have been nicer. For dinner that night we went out with one of our best friends Shaina. She works at The Children's Book Council, and brought a bag full of fantastic books for Beckett, which he was super excited about! 
I wanted us all to have a special treat, so we took her to the restaurant Shabu-Tatsu down in the east village for shabu-shabu. It is my all-time favorite meal EVER. You basically eat yourself silly on meat, vegetables, and noodles that you cook yourself in a pot at your table. It is a traditional Japanese style hotpot, and it is seriously the best thing you will ever eat. 
Wednesday was our last full day in the city. We had lunch with our friend Donald at Spice Market and sat next to Heather Graham, which basically made my husband's day! I actually knew one of the managers there, so they sent us out a ton of extra dishes on the house. We ate SO. MUCH. The rest of the day we spent hanging out at the playground in Washington Square Park, which of course made Beckett extremely happy. 
And what's a trip to NYC without a hotdog?! We grabbed an early dinner at Shake Shack and headed back to the hotel to get packed and to spend a little more time with our bestie Shaina.
We caught the early train out the next morning, and it was a long trip home but we made it! We had such an amazing time in the city, and we ate so much delicious food and had a blast with our friends. I can't wait until the next time we get to go back. Now, of course, I did manage to squeeze in a little shopping at Inglot, MUFE, and of course Temptu while I was up there. I'm saving that for another post, so be sure to stay tuned. Thanks for visiting my blog! Until next time... b.b.
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 The buzz around this new product from Benefit had me anxiously awaiting it's debut. I'm a big fan of quite a few of Benefit's products, and the allure of a tool & product in-one that makes applying liner a cinch was too much to resist. So I picked up my own tube and gave myself plenty of time to practice and get accustomed to using the pen, as my Sephora contact had informed me that their own artists were having a little trouble getting the hang of it.  It definitely takes several tries to get the feel of the pen, but I do like how the shape of the tip really makes drawing your flick easier, especially if you have an unsteady hand. But that is about where my praises end. The idea is really great in theory. Gel liner is superior to liquids and pencils, and putting that product in pen form for easy travel and convenience is genius. One less brush to clean is certainly appreciated as well.  However, the actual product in the pen is where this whole thing completely fails. The gel is very dry, and tends to ball and crumble immediately out of the tip. You really have to work it against the lash line to make the gel malleable enough to spread. It also dries incredibly fast, leaving no room for manipulating your line. And because the formula is so dry, you cannot build your liner without making it clumpy.
Another drawback of this formula is that it cracks and flakes very easily. The first time I wore this product out, I went to a wedding, and the makeup was a mess at the end of the night. I have since worn it several times during just a typical day, and the product doesn't even stand up to normal wear. I ended up with lots of flakes and fallout under my eyes, even after just a couple of hours. I would never be able to use this liner on an actual client, who really needs their makeup to stand up to hot lights or sweat. This liner retails for $24 at Sephora. My advice would be to save your money and stick with applying a good gel like MAC Fluidline with a liner brush. Hopefully Benefit will read enough bad reviews on this product that they will go back to the drawing board and work on reformulating it. Until next time! b.b. 
Yesterday I got to work with a good friend of mine that I haven't seen in a really long time! Photographer Marie Killen is a very talented photographer in the Greensboro area, who shoots some of the most beautiful images I've seen. Not to mention that she is just about as nice as can be and very funny. Her fiance Scott Russell is also her business partner at www.Russell-Killen.com. They shoot weddings and portraits together. Here are some more images from yesterdays shoot! Hair & Makeup by me. 
If you like my boudoir work, I would love to be your artist when you book a session! You can check out my boudoir pricing on the Services page of my website.
Until next time, Keep It Real Beautiful ;) b.b. |
Authorb.b. is a champagne bubble of a girl who loves life. Archives
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