Naughty Or Nice: Holiday Beauty Tips From Celebrity Makeup Artist Erica Gonzalez

'Tis the season for fabulosity! Holiday parties always offer up the perfect opportunity to debut a new look. But the questions is, are you more naughty or nice? We've tapped celebrity makeup artist Erica Gonzalez to help us all figure out which side of the beauty festivities we fall on. First up, Team Nice. Going the good girl route? Check out Erica's makeup tips in our Q&A below.

So Erica, what colors/textures are going to be big for this festive holiday season beauty wise if you wanna keep things sweet?

All holiday makeup should feel glamorous and playful, but rosy cheeks, and nude lips are the way to go for a nice sweet holiday look.  I recommend Cargo's Water Resistant Blush ($26). This long-lasting formula is sweat-, heat-, and tear-proof. It's also packed with light-diffusing minerals that give skin an effortless glow.

What should we play up for a sweet, daytime holiday look?  Lips, eyes? OK to do both?
Shiny lips will amp up an everyday look in seconds. Try nude gloss such as MAC Cremesheen Glass in Boy Bait ($20).  It's a innocently sexy lip finish that fuses the creamy, sheen-filled nature of Cremesheen Lipstick with the shine of M·A·C Lipglass and won't feel sticky.

For eyes, I create brightness by dabbing the inner corners with a cream highlighter or brushing a light, shimmering shade underneath the lower lash line. Also, for a sweet daytime makeup look, try a silver or blue eyeliner. Not only will it brighten your look, but it also pairs perfectly with another wintertime hue. I love the Limited Edition Let's Meet In Paris Eye Palette by Cargo Cosmetics ($39). A must-have for the holidays! Choose from 12 metallic highly pigmented eye shades that work as both shadow and liner.

How do we step our makeup game up from the ordinary to extraordinary?  Any simple tricks?

For radiant skin, try mixing a drop of luminizer into your foundation for a flawless glow. Try Tarte's Amazonian Clay Shimmering Powder ($30). It's an easy-to-use pressed powder that adds a customizable, luminous glow to cheeks, brow bones and décolletage. I also suggest trying Motives Gold Liquid Shimmer ($15). Perfect for a sweet holiday look, you can play up cheeks, eyes, and also hide imperfections by deflecting and diffusing light.

Any shades or techniques to avoid? Why?

Play with makeup fearlessly and have the confidence to try new bold trends such as a full brow. Gone are the days of the pencil thin, over-plucked brows. Keep a nice arch, but let the natural shape of your brow really frame the rest of your face. For dark haired people, go one or two shades lighter than your hair color. For light haired people go two shades darker than your hair color.

What celebrity inspiration do you think of for a nice, sweet holiday look?

Katie Holmes- her makeup style is always soft and beautiful- perfect for a daytime holiday look.

Expert tip and some celebrity inspiration to boot, thanks Erica! Look out for expert tips on a Naughty holiday look from Gonzalez soon!

"No Makeup November" Movement Questions Standards of Beauty

The past month has seen a plethora of beauty-related controversies, from celebrity airbrushing and Instagram retouching to makeup mastery, and in protest of the trend, Christian association Rave Ministries wants us all to go back to basics. Rave, a religious group for young women, has announced their latest campaign, “No Makeup November,” encouraging women everywhere to question why, exactly, they use cosmetics.

“No Makeup November” encourages women to ditch their makeup and go natural, at least for the next nine days. Despite overt religious motivation behind the group’s initiative, there are other, less ecclesiastical reasons impelling Rave. According to the group’s website, American women spend a staggering $12,000 annually on beauty-related goods. However, Rave was careful to emphasize that “No Makeup November” does not seek to topple the makeup industry or eradicate the practice altogether, saying:

    This campaign is in no way an anti-makeup campaign, because let it be known that it is not the makeup we are battling. Instead, it is a culture we are trying to fight.

The initiative echoes similar proclamations by Lady Gaga and Milla Jovovich in recent months, which call attention to our culture’s tendency to erase facial flaws and standardize unusual features. Rave claims that in makeup usage, the real problem occurs when women do not see beauty or value in their appearance, and attempt to mask their features due to a deficiency in self esteem. The organization said:

    It is our hope that women everywhere can see themselves as a true masterpiece intricately and purposely woven together by the Creator of the Universe.

Whether or not you believe in an intelligent creator is actually irrelevant to the crux of the movement; the central issue is the prevalence of women who don’t believe in their own beauty because of impossible, culturally-imposed beauty standards. So prevalent is the instinct to conform to a single standard of beauty that the process begins as early as elementary school, from the misery of braces in pursuit of the perfect smile, to the use of injectable chemicals to freeze a face into perpetual youth. Clearly, we have an obsession with a very specific ideal of beauty, but one which is ultimately unachievable as well as potentially unhealthy.

Rave’s movement is making its debut at a particularly prime moment thanks to a handful of brave celebrities and cultural pundits who are encouraging the self-image to the forefront. Tina Fey, an authority on being a woman in a male-dominated world, paints a vivid and unsettling image of our culture’s perfect woman in her book Bossypants. Fey determined that the paragon of beauty is, much like Jim Carrey’s collage of magazine photos pasted together to look like his true love in The Truman Show, an amalgamation of traits which typically do not occur naturally in the same woman. Fey says:

    Now every girl is supposed to have Caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama, and doll tits.

Quite the laundry list of expectations for the average woman. And how does one achieve this impossible ideal? If you go the non-surgical route and don’t have a job which allows you to spend five hours a day at the gym, makeup offers a quick fix. As Rave reiterates, however, the issue is not with makeup itself, but with the culture which hails makeup as a solution to what is deemed ugly, as opposed to a form of empowerment meant to make the wearer more confident.

The beauty industry isn’t all bad, though (which is good, since, you know, we’re here on this Fashion & Beauty vertical). Legendary makeup artist Bobbi Brown offers a healthier solution to the trend towards uniformity: use makeup to highlight what is beautiful on each individual face instead of wielding it as a tool of conformity. Her books, including Bobbi Brown Teenage Beauty: Everything You Need to Look Pretty, Natural, Sexy, and Awesome, emphasize that everyone has a unique look, and should celebrate what separates them from others by using makeup to play up individuality.

However, Brown’s approach is still not a universal attitude adopted by makeup industry and its major players, made all the more complicated by the recent prevalence of beauty tutorials designed to make the consumer look like a particular character or celebrity. Case in point, if you type “Angelina Jolie Makeup” into the YouTube search bar (or any major celebrity, for that matter), a shocking number of search results are presented, each featuring a makeup artist who becomes unrecognizable after contouring, plumping, plucking, and covering up their features.

What we can glean from both the No Makeup November campaign as well as the airbrush/retouch/makeover standard is that there are negative psychological ramifications behind these unrealistic beauty expectations. In other words, our culture tells women that we aren’t good enough as-is.

Makeup can be an incredibly amusing and confidence-boosting practice, but when cosmetics take away all traces of someone’s unique identity, it becomes an exercise in negativity. So instead of using makeup to cover up the negative and fix problem areas, try picking out your favorite features and accentuate the positive. As the wise Oscar Wilde once bluntly said, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken”.

Know the art of makeup removal

London: When makeup is removed in an incorrect manner, it leads to irritation on the face and chances of premature ageing and uneven complexion rise. So use face wipes to remove makeup, but do it the right without causing any damage to the skin.

"Using a face wipe is a great way to make sure you cleanse and tone, removing makeup at the same time to ensure your pores aren't blocked," a website quoted facialist Teresa Tarmey as saying.

She also said that wiping haphazardly before going to bed can remove makeup, but learning how to wipe without stretching your skin and minimizing pressure will reduce any damaging effects.

"Skin is the foundation for looking beautiful, so taking care of it is crucial. Removing makeup in the wrong way can not only irritate the skin but promote premature aging, causing fine lines and uneven complexion," said Tarmey.

Follow the following makeup removing steps shared by Tarmey:

Gently remove makeup from your forehead first. Wipe it from the middle of the forehead to the left and then back to the middle and to the right.

Then move on to your eyes. Wrap the wipe around your finger, exposing the other side and gently sweep it across the lids towards the outer corners. Use your ring finger for this to avoid applying more pressure on your delicate skin.

For your cheeks, repeatedly sweep the wipe upwards towards your ears. The upward movement will not cause skin to sag.

Shelley Bridgeman: Should men wear makeup?

It was at Smith & Caughey's in Newmarket that I encountered my first fully made-up man. Fittingly, he was working in the cosmetics section. At first I was a little distracted by his blue eye-shadow and pink lipstick (which nonetheless suited his fair complexion) but he quickly became my go-to guy when I needed makeup or wrinkle potions.

Then just the other day in the same department store I was served by a second man with rather dramatic eye makeup on. I told him I needed eyeliner. "Liquid eyeliner? That's what I've got on," he said, indicating the heavy black swirls above his eyes. I received helpful and friendly service from both these men who clearly had an enthusiasm for their particular line of work. The second one even managed to sell me some Dior skincare which I'd never tried before.

After that initial moment of awkwardness, I no longer batted an eyelid at these young men who just happened to be wearing more makeup than me. And, anyway, I figured that if someone is going to sell cosmetics then it makes sense that they use the products, so in a way it could be perceived as even stranger if they were bare-faced.

Yet even in the age of the "metrosexual" (defined by Dictionary.com as "a heterosexual, usually urban male who pays much attention to his personal appearance and cultivates an upscale lifestyle") and "manscaping" (defined by Urban Dictionary as "to groom a man. Shaving, waxing, cleaning up the superfluous fur) it seems that some of us are still raising an eyebrow at the prospect of men wearing makeup.

The people at Speight's beer certainly question the practice: "With a proliferation of questionable products aimed at men, including manscara, guyliner and strange waxing procedures, one could be forgiven for assuming that Kiwi men have lost sight of what really matters to them."

But in American Idol: Adam Lambert speaks out for men with makeup he responded to an eww-men-aren't-supposed-to-wear-makeup comment by opining that there are, in fact, no rules specifying who may and who may not wear makeup - and that, in his view, everyone should be free to express themselves as they choose.

Indeed, there's a strong tradition of men in the entertainment industry embracing this freedom. Russell Brand's kohl, Boy George's "colourful paintwork", Elvis Presley's concealer and foundation, and Robbie Williams' eyeliner can be seen at Made-up men.

Read more: Rebecca Kamm wonders: Why don't men wear makeup?

However we have a couple of home-grown examples of makeup-wearing men who hail from other professions - namely politics and sport. Michael Laws' fondness for eyeliner was well known and, evidently, "[f]or a short while, Ma'a Nonu of the All Blacks rugby team wore mascara".

In Introducing Guy-liner and Manscara - the new metrosexual makeup just for men, a spokesman from the company selling cosmetics for blokes "insisted that its cosmetics -branded Taxi Man - are not just for transvestites. He said: 'These days you can be macho and wear makeup. If you look at people like Russell Brand and Robbie Williams, they both wear makeup and they are both very red-blooded men.'"

Yet for every enthusiast such as Cameron I-like-men-with-make-up Diaz there's a doubter such as the beauty blogger at Guyliner: what's the go? who wrote: "as more and more men step out sporting foundation, a slick of lippy or a dab of blush, I can't help but wonder - how far will it go?"

In essence, it's really about equal rights. Who, these days, can consider makeup to be acceptable for women but simultaneously deny men the freedom to choose to wear it? The issue, people, is makeup equality. Are you for or against it?

Wedding Elegance and Cosmetics Tips

The wedding day is not just the enormous occasion in a lady's existence, and yet the day in which all the visitors' eyes are upon the lady, who is brilliant from joy, needing to look picture-ideal for her enormous day. Marriage cosmetics tips, plus the best possible hair forethought are essential to look and feel that way.

Since the precise minute after the lady and groom have authoritatively reported their engagement, making arrangements for the wedding day may as well incorporate the hunting down wedding haircuts and cosmetics tips. In the event that the "Big Day" is en route, remember that it is best to look like yourself, yet accentuating uncommon characteristics of your front side.

Your eyes are the window to your soul, so give them the correct edge applying a couple of the eye cosmetics tips that you can effectively find internet, searching magazines or asking an excellence counsel. Then again, not just the eyes, recall that there are various diverse cosmetics tips to help you resemble a motion picture star.

Even though hair forethought might proceed as a common action, it might require specific consideration in understanding to the diverse wedding hairdos that you select ahead of time of your wedding outfit. It is quite fitting to make the distinct determination dependent upon your wedding dress, yet you should attempt a few hairdos preceding settling on one of them.

Eye cosmetics tips ought to be rehearsed early to assurance you won't resemble a cosmetics examination as a more terrible situation. Twisting your lashes to make your eyes open and adhere to dim shaded mascaras will make you look more characteristic, yet assuming that you need to include a sensational impact, line your easier lashes.

Wedding cosmetics tips are encased with a straightforward thought: toning it down would be ideal. On the grounds that everyone will be taking a gander at you on your wedding day, don't put on a show to put all the cosmetics on the planet onto every part of your front side. Disguising yourself behind an intensely painted front side will make you look counterfeit, especially assuming that you don't wear an excessive amount of cosmetics in your each day exercises.

Your eating regimen and lifestyle will reflect in both your skin and your hair so the healthier your eating regimen, the more delightful you will look on the Big Day. Hair consideration may as well incorporate a medicine with olive oil connected just on the hair's closures at time to retire and washing it off the following morning. Trim your hair each 4 to 5 weeks regardless of the fact that you are developing it for an up do, and don't brush it when it is wet.

Sound hair merits an extraordinary hair styling browsed the numerous wedding haircuts, incorporating undoes, medium hairdos, wavy hairdos and even famous person haircuts, simply make a point to talk about with your beauticians the diverse styles and test those that you might want to wear on your wedding day.

Orderly Bridal Makeup Application Tips

Your wedding day is nearing closer and closer and if there is one thing you need most, it is looking the best on your extraordinary day. Here is an orderly guide to applying cosmetics for your wedding day:

Planning Your Face

1. Begin with a clean, decently saturated front side. Assuming that you have sleek skin, utilize a cream specified for your skin sort. Assuming that you have dry skin, utilize a hydrating spread before you start.

2. notwithstanding select an establishment. This is an extremely vital part and you need to be extremely cautious when picking an establishment. You need to search for an item that suits your skin tone and is additionally long-remaining. In the event that you are having a spring or a vacation spot wedding, search for something water safe. The establishment may as well likewise be streak confirmation with the goal that cosmetics lines don't indicate. It might as well truly set off your composition and not make it look dull. A helpful tip is to head off to a magnificence counter and get 2-3 items tried on your front side well after the wedding.

3. In the wake of applying the establishment, set it with a translucent setting powder.

Eye Makeup

1. Hydrate the region with cream and afterward make a base. Apply an unbiased shade Eye shadow over the whole eyelid right you're your lash line to the bow.

2. Presently for some stress. Utilize a mid tone tint within the external corner of the eye to stress it. Fare thee well to utilize Eye shadow colors that suit your skin tone and run well with your embellishments, adornments and bundle shades.

3. Presently apply eyeliner. It is great to practice well previously to get a clean and straight line.

3. For thick lashes, utilize an eyelash style to twist them and layer with a twofold layer of mascara. In the event that you suppose there is even a slight risk that you may holler, go in for waterproof mascara.

Cheeks and Lips

1. Pick a color that suits your skin tone and runs with your dress and upgrade your characteristic gleam with blusher.

2. Get ready your lips by applying lip emollient. Shed and saturate lips customarily preceding the wedding to guarantee delicate and smooth lips.

3. Line your lips with a lip liner. Don't influence from your common shape. Just make your regular shape more obvious.

4. Fill in with a fitting shade of lipstick. At the end of the day, verify your lipstick in exchange safe and long remain. Put resources into an exceptional quality lipstick that gives all of you this and keeps your lips saturated.

It is dependably encouraged to put on trial cosmetics numerous times after the wedding for the purpose that you spare yourself from any keep going moment cosmetics fiascos on your for the most part uncommon day. Bunches of rest and a loose state of psyche will guarantee you have your regular gleam on your wedding day.

Glimmer up Your Boring Sight with These Easy Eye Cosmetics Tips!

Just think about a scenario in which you are preparing for the most anticipated day of your lifestyle. You have clothed up in the most wonderful outfit, have on a couple of related footwear, are holding a elegant purse, have put on some unique fragrance, and are providing a crowning glory to your cosmetics, and have just looked at yourself in the reflection.

You look almost ideal, but still something is losing, is what you say to yourself in now of fact. If only your little sight could look vivid and ignite up, no one can quit you from looking like a damsel and an all-time queen. However, is that really possible? Yes, it is! Study below to find some really awesome eye cosmetics guidelines, which can carry your little sight to lifestyle and provide the of entirety to your finish look that you want.

• Eye cosmetics are basically about improvising. All you need is eye liner, mascara, two primary main shades and your innovative abilities. However, create sure you don't go over the top with your creativeness.

• Ensure that that the eye platform suits with along with of your epidermis. You can opt for using any of the energy or fluid platform fundamentals that go with your complexion.

• Start with implementing the platform on your eye lids.

• Once the platform is equally used, select up the eye dark areas related along with of your outfit. However, it doesn't mean that if your outfits are consists of shiny shades of yellow-colored, lemon etc, you end up implementing eye darkness of that same color. This can come to be a big cosmetics mistake. In this situation, opt for easy shades which go well with outfits of every color.

• If you want a organic look, opt for the shades of olive organic and brownish.

• However, if status out is your concept for the evening, select out the shades of grilling dark and red.

• Choose "black eyeliner" as it is the most secure bet for everyone. Indicate the eye liner properly under and over the eye lids.

• If you wish to provide a stunning look to your sight, opt for fluid eye liner.

• Always implement the mascara at the last level of the eye cosmetics procedure.

• Mascara must always be used nicely and never be smudged off.

• You can opt for dark or obvious shades of mascara. Though, dark is the most recommended color.

Follow these easy eye cosmetics guidelines and observe the miracle of your attractive sight gaining the interest of individuals around you.

A Few Important Wedding Cosmetics Tips!

The marriage day is indeed the most essential and anticipated day of any females life. Every lady dreams of looking her best on the day of her marriage and wants to entice the attention of everyone, especially her true love. For sure, ideal beauty products and putting on a costume right can help a new bride to realize her dream of looking like the most wonderful person in the world during her marriage party.

There are a huge number of beauty products guidelines which can be used by a lady while preparing for her marriage party. However, there are some which are hugely popular and must be implemented for sure while implementing the marriage beauty products. Proper application of some major beauty products such as cover-up, eyeliners, lip stick, base lotion, sight darkness, etc. is extremely crucial for providing that ideal marriage look. They can actually do or die your day completely, based on the way they are used. If these essential beauty products are used effectively, they are limited to create the new bride look extremely wonderful and wonderful.

Read below to discover some amazing marriage beauty products tips:

• While choosing a base lotion, create sure that it suits your complexion effectively. The base shade should neither be too mild or too bright or else you'll fail to create the unmatched wonderful appeal. You can implement the lotion on the epidermis of your arm to make sure that it suits up with your pores and epidermis.

• Before implementing the base, always clean your epidermis thoroughly with the help of a wet fabric or tissue.

• Always implement the base with a soothing action and never rub it in too hard. This will make sure that the lotion is used equally and efficiently over your epidermis.

• If you have facial imperfections, acne or brown spots, create use of a cover-up for concealing it all.

• Never implement too much of cover-up on a single spot, as it might emphasize the unwanted area.

• Take advantage of a cover-up which suits with along with of your base.

• Opt for the eye liner shade that suits along with of your outfit. For example, if your outfit is mild in shade, opt for a mild shade of eye liner.

• Take advantage of liquid eyeliners for featuring your wonderful sight.

• The shade of your lip stick and lip shine must always match with along with of your outfit.

Apply these essential marriage beauty products guidelines and look like a wonderful queen prepared to appeal your royal prince on your marriage day!