Less is always better…

Hello Divas,

eVaDiVa is back in the beautiful city of blogville after a very long trip in busyville…I wanted to share with you tips for every day work makeup…

If you are a busy bee like me and have to wake up early every morning to go to work in some pencil skirt and high heels, you probably do not have time to pull out a glamorous makeup look (and should not…you are going to work, not to the new nightclub downtown)!

I have been wearing almost no makeup at all for the last few months and people have been looking at me like I am lying when I tell them I am a makeup artist…

Another thing that triggered me to share these tips with you is that I was happy to have somebody very dear to me tell me last night that less is always better when it comes to my face (see me blushing? lol)

So here is how to keep it simple and still fresh in less than 5 mn…

Here are pics of Gabrielle Union in Miss Independent  video that came out last year looking all professional with a very cute makeup look (with lashes and some eyeshadows though…) Check out the shoes!!!

FACE

• Use a light powder (MAC pressed powder or mineralized lose powder) and apply it with a big brush.
• Add a lil bit of blot powder on top if you have oily skin or if you live in a hot climate
• Use a warm tone blush or bronzer (Bobbi Brown in DEEP 4)

EYES

• Make sure your eyebrows are waxed and use your eyebrow pencil if necessary (MAC STUD or SPIKED; BOURJOIS in BROWN)
• Instead of using eye shadows and getting into the whole shading process, just use eyeliners! If you are wearing a blue shirt, try a blue eyeliner pencil around your eye and smudged it lightly!
• Use as much mascara as you want since you are not wearing any shadows, you want to emphasize your look as much as you can (without it looking clumpy of course) LANCOME mascaras are still my favourite of all times! Try FLEXTENCILS or the classic DEFINICILS

LIPS

• Use your favourite lipliner (nightmoth in my case) along with any lipstick that you want. Avoid bright lips at work as it may look too provocative. I recently tried Nightmoth with Spirit lipstick and I am loving it!!!
• Go easy on the lipgloss…you do not wanna see the reflection of ur lips on your desktop all day…plus wearing too much lipgloss is not classy…

Now you can go to work with a decent face in less than 5 mn…

XoXo

eVaDiVa

***Bday Party Look***

Hello Divas,

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was just soooo GREAT!!! It was my birthday on Friday and I had the best birthday party ever with all my friends!!! I hope I will be able to match that for the big 30…lol

So I was so excited the whole night that I didn’t even think about taking a close-up picture of my makeup…Here is the best picture I could find to describe what I was wearing…

ALL MAC unless otherwise specified

FACE

Foundation: Select SPF 15 NW45

Powder: Mineralize Skin Finish Lose Powder Deep Dark

Blush:  Raizin

Shimmer Powder: Global Glow mineralize

EYES

Base: Concealer NW35

Eyelid: Electra

Crease: Dovefeather

Corner Crease: Carbon

Highlighter: Concealer NW 35 + Vanilla Pigment

Inner corner eye: Electra

Bottom contour: Carbon

Eyeliner: Blactrack fluidline

Eyeliner: Graphblack

Lashes: MAC # 33

LIPS

Liner: Chocolate by Bobbi Brown

Gloss: Fine China (limited edition)

XoXo

eVaDiVa

MAC and Very dark skin powder/foundation?

Anonymous wrote:

It is obvious that u LOVE MAC and so do I, however I can’t find the right powder.
I like MAC but I think that people with my complexion are always stuck to the NW50 which is not necessarly the right shade. it can turn grey! I think that the darker you are the fiewer are your choices. In my opinion MAc does not have enough color choice for people with very dark skin; not African-Americans with just light skin!!! I might be wrong because when I go on the website, I can see different type of founcations and powders, so which powder and shade would you recommend? I use Black up becoz i get the right coverage, shade and a mat finish; What do you think?
merciiiiiii

eVaDiVa wrote:

Hi Anonymous,

Thank you for your question.
To answer it, MAC does have a lot of shades for darker skin. However, most people, especially African women are just stuck to the studio fix powder where the darkest shade is NW50. This studio fix powder is great for everyday use and its the perfect powder to have a combination of foundation and powder in 1. However, it is not recommended for pictures or as a night makeup especially if you are very dark. The reason is that some of the pigments used in that formula reflects too much the light and that’s why you can see sometimes people that use it and take pictures look like ghosts…lol…
So the solution for you if you really wanna use MAC will be to use their STUDIO TECH foundation or STICK foundation in NW55. The texture of the STICK is creamy so it doesn’t give you the same finish than the studio fix. However, the STUDIO TECH is also creamy but will dry on your face like a powder so it will be about the same than the FIX.
I also LOOOVE  FASHION FAIR foundations for darker skin. You should try them as well. BLACK UP  is indeed a great line and have very good foundations, so if you are happy with them, I would suggest to stick with them and try MAC  or FASHION FAIR just to get something different…
Hope this helped…

XoXo

eVaDiVa

A very Happy New Year…

Hello Divas,

These past few weeks have been very hectic for me… The last 2 weeks of 2008 had not been the greatest as good and sad events came across my path… The sudden loss of a loved one made me cherish life even more and realize how grateful each and every one of us should be and how love is the most important thing in life after God…

Christmas this year did not feel like it used to…and neither did New Year’s Eve but I am happy and thankful that I was with the people I love, my family and close friends.

On a makeup note, with so many weddings in Dakar this year, I had the opportunity to do makeup for three brides that were as gorgeous as one can think!!! The most amazing and interesting part about these weddings makeup was that each bride had a very different type of beauty and style and mixing the two to come out with the best makeup look for their big day was just an amazing experience! Bridal makeup is at the same time always so challenging and rewarding as you have to deal with the bride’s stress and make sure both of you are happy with the final work.

I would love to show you the pictures but will need to ask permission before posting them so I will let you know as soon as I can…

I also wanted to share with you my favorite makeup product for brides:  GLOBAL GLOW and WARMED mineralized Powder by MAC. It looks AMAAAAAZING on the skin and gives a soft and natural glow on pictures.

Another product that I absolutely felt in love with is FASHION FAIR LIP TEASER in Tickled Pink. It looked amazing on my bride with a MAC PLUM Liner.

I wish you all again a very Happy New Year!!!

XoXo

eVaDiVa

 

SKIN BLEACHING/LIGHTENING? YOUR ENNEMY

***WARNING*** WARNING*** DISTURBING PICTURES BELOW

I was watching a documentary that a friend sent me last week and I was horrified by what I found out and saw. I then googled “depigmentation de la peau danger” and almost threw up when I saw the pictures (see below). So I didn’t want this blog to be full of nice and pretty pictures of women with makeup and beautiful skin, I wanted to make sure that beautiful women of color like me and you are aware of the danger of skin lightening.

In Senegal, this practice is called “Khessal” meaning “lightening”. It is done by many women of different social classes. This means that a rich or a poor woman can do it, she will just use different products depending on her budget…In RDC (Republic Democratic of Congo), this has been a practice that even men do… In Gambia, the president Yaya Djame banned it and people are subjected to emprisonment if they are caught bleaching their skin. It is unfortunate that other countries do not apply the same laws knowing that skin bleaching can sometimes kill…

A play Written and performed by Rani Moorthy to raise awareness against skin bleaching

 

Here is an interesting article that I found at: http://www.pressbox.co.uk/detailed/Health/skin_bleaching/_lightening_its_dangers_37431.html that details this phenomenon…

How skin lightening products work

There are two chemicals found in skin lightening products, Hydroquinone or Mercury.

o Hydroquinone (C6H6O2) is a severely toxic and very powerful chemical used in photo processing, the manufacture of rubber and is an active agent in hair dyes.
o Mercury in the form of Mercury Chloride & Ammoniated Mercury is carcinogenic. They appear on the list of toxic substances that can only be purchased via pharmacies with prescribed labels of toxicity.

Both products perform a similar process. In the short term they will initially cause the skin to lighten by inhibiting the production of melanin. Without melanin formation in the basal layer no brown pigmentation will be visible.

The long term effects, however, are those that must be addressed.

The long term effects of using skin lightening products

Hydroquinone or Mercury applied to the skin will react with ultra violet rays and re-oxidise, leading to more pigmentation and premature ageing. More product is then applied in an attempt to correct the darker blotchy appearance.
These are the beginnings of a vicious cycle. By altering the skins natural structure and inhibiting the production of Melanin, it’s natural protection, the skin is more susceptible to skin cancer.

Prolonged use of Hydroquinone will thicken collegen fibres damaging the connective tissues. The result is rough blotchy skin leaving it with a spotty cavier appearance.
Mercury will slowly accumulate within the skin cells striping the skin of it’s natural pigment leaving behind the tell tale signs of gray/ blue pigmentation in the folds of the skin. In the long term the chemical will damage vital organs and lead to liver and kidney failure and mercury poisoning.

 

 

PLEASE DO NOT USE SKIN LIGHTENING PRODUCTS. DO NOT USE ANYTHING THAT CONTAINS ANYTHING HIGHER THAN 2% HYDROQUINONE UNLESS DIRECTED BY A DOCTOR.

FOR ALL MY FRANCOPHONE READERS, READ THIS ARTICLE: http://www.hautcourant.com/Depigmentation-de-la-peau-au-dela,409

Thank you Leyla for sending that…

XoXo

eVaDiVa

I also wanted to give two thumbs up to all these fighting against skin bleaching and that are raising awareness in their communities. For instance, as common as it is here in Senegal, I have not seen one flight attendant from our national airline company using these products…

Beauty of the week ***ROCHELLE AYTES***

You may remember Rochelle if you are a fan of Tyler Perry’s movies. She played the role of the beautiful fiance of very handsome Blair Underwood in Madea’s family Reunion. She also did a lot of commercials for L’Oreal, Coca-Cola, Mc Donalds and Mercedes Benz.

Her look on this picture is very soft and yet, looks very glamour…Here is how you could do this at home:

ALL MAC UNLESS SPECIFIED

FACE

Foundation: Mineralize satin finish liquid

Concealer: Select cover up

Blush: Mineralized blush “Love Thing”

Powder: Lose powder

EYES

Base: Cream color base SHELL

Lid: Retrospeck

Crease: Woodwinked

Highlighter: Shroom

Eyeliner: Fluidline blacktrack on top with brush # 266 and graphblack inner eye rim

Lashes: MAC #7  or just a good curving and thickening masacara like Lancome flextencils

LIPS

Liner: Cork

Lipstick: Honeyflower

Lipgloss: lipgelee Gemshine

 

 

Did you say “charcoal”???

So my mom came back from a very long trip (yes I was counting the days … :o) She showed me a few products that she got… mostly clinique and L’oreal (eVaDiVa’s recommendation…) and I saw a few ORIGINS skincare products…

I always liked ORIGINS products although I never bought any…I tried most of them as I was given free samples at the mall and from a friend who used to work there. My mom bought each and every kind of face cream they have (that’s what she does when experimenting…no wonder where I got it from…lol). Among all the products she got, the CLEAR IMPROVEMENT charcoal mask was the one that really caught my eyes as the product is really dark like charcoal…so I tried it and I have to say that I am just IN LOOOOOVE with it!!! I still love CLINIQUE emergency mask but I have to tell you that this one will give your skin a very soft a clean appearance. Use it once a week after your weekly mini-facial and you will see the results right away if your skin has large pores (oily).

Here is what Origins says about this life saver: Active Charcoal mask to clear pores. Activated charcoal acts like a magnet to draw out deep pore-clogging impurities while White China Clay absorbs environmental toxins to give skin a deep-down cleansing.

Retail Price: $17.50

XoXo

eVaDiVa

 

Faces by Haydee Ferreira!!!—Visages de Haydee Ferreira

 

As I was flipping the pages of Miss Ebene Magazine (a very popular publication for WOC) yesterday, I was stunned by the beauty of the models’ makeup. So I went behind my computer and tried to research who was the talented makeup artist behind these beautiful faces and the name HAYDEE FERREIRA popped out. She is from Guinea Bissau in West Africa (not far from my homecountry Senegal).I love the detail of her makeup and the way she combines and plays with colors. She is definately one of the best on my list (as I do not proclaim to be the best myself…lol) Check out her work on Yaye Marie’s blog (great website for African women that shows how talented we all are!!!)

Now I know I promised to put up some FOTD pics of my work and will do that very soon…

XoXo

eVaDiVa

Je feuilletais  les pages de Miss Ebene hier (un magazine très populaire pour les femmes noires), j’ai été émerveillée par le beau maquillage des modèles.  

 

Je suis donc allée faire des recherches sur la toile afin de découvrir qui etait la créatrice de ces Chefs d’œuvre de beauté et je suis tombée sur  le nom  de HAYDEE FERREIRA . Elle est de la Guinée Bissau en Afrique d’ouest (pas loin de mon pays le Sénégal). La précision de son maquillage et son jeu de couleurs ressortent d’une façon admirable sur les visages. Elle fait dorénavant parti d’une des meilleures maquilleuses sur ma liste (comme je ne proclame pas être la meilleure moi même…lol). Vous pouvez voir son travail sur le blog de Yaye Marie (un blog très intéressant pour les femmes africaines et qui montre comment nous sommes toutes douées ! !!)

 

 

J’ai promis de montrer quelques photos récentes de mon travail et je vais m’y atteler très bientôt…

 

 XoXo

 

Lauren London & Gabrielle Union “Miss Independent”

I have been watching over and over again for the last 2 weeks Neyo new video “Miss Independent”. The song itself is beautiful but the women in the video are even more beautiful. Gabrielle Union and Lauren London are the 2 main characters in the video and they looked pretty from head to toes.

Je n’ai pas cessé de regarder  ces 2 dernières semaines le nouveau clip de Neyo « Miss Independent ». La chanson en elle-même est belle mais les femmes dans le clip sont d’une beauté époustouflante. Gabrielle Union et Lauren London sont les 2 principales actrices dans la vidéo et elles ont une beauté presque parfaite pour ne pas dire « totalement » parfaite…

Gabrielle Union’s makeup and hair were very pretty and classy (I’m loving her coat on this pic!!!). She was wearing a very neutral lip color (ssugestion:Spirit lipstick from MAC) with a natural blush color (suggestion: blunt from MAC). Her eyes didn’t look to made up, I would just use a black liner and smudge it up to the crease line and under the innder eye rim. Add some false eyelashes with a thickenning mascara (Lancome Fatale) to finish this look.

Gabrielle Union avait un maquillage tres naturel et une tres belle coiffure (j’aime également beaucoup sa veste sur cette photo !!!). Son rouge a lèvre est une couleur tres neutre (suggestion : Spirit de MAC) avec un fard a joue un peu comme un bronzant neutre (suggestion: Blunt de MAC). Son maquillage des yeux avait l’air d’être tres naturel. J’utiliserais juste un crayon Khôl noir le long de la ligne des cils en le mélangeant légèrement le long de la paupière. J’ajouterais quelques faux cils avec un mascara épaississant (Lancôme Fatale) pour finir ce look.

Lauren London was cute and sexy as usual. She was wearing a very soft smokey eye and had neutral lips just like Gabrielle. Smokey soft eyes and neautral lips seems to be the trend right now in most videos…

Check out the video…

 

Lauren London est toujours belle et sexy. Ses yeux dans ce clip étaient maquillés en smokey avec un rouge à lèvre/ brillant à lèvre tres neutre comme Gabrielle Union. Maquiller les yeux en smokey et mettre un rouge à lèvre neutre semblent être la tendance maintenant…

Voici la video…

 

 

 

XoXo

eVaDiVa

Brandy’s Natural Makeup—Full moon Video—

A while ago, I received a request from one of my favorite Divas Amina to describe Brandy’s look in the “full Moon” video. I totally forgot to do it and only remembered today as I heard the song on the radio.

Indeed, her makeup looks flawless! Brandy is not the cutest girl but she always looks on point (makeup wise at least). I also love this song in particular…

So here is how I will replicate her beautiful natural look:

 

Il y’a quelque  temps,  j’ai reçu une demande d’une de mes divas préférées Amina pour décrire le maquillage de Brandy dans la vidéo  « Full Moon ». J’ai complètement oublié de le faire et je me suis rappelée qu’aujourd’hui comme j’ai entendu  la chanson à la radio.

 

Effectivement, le maquillage est impeccable !  Brandy n’est pas la plus jolie mais elle est toujours présentable(en tout cas pour le maquillage). J’adore aussi cette chanson en particulier..

 

 

Donc voilà comment je vais recréer son beau maquillage naturel :

 

Donc voilà comment je vais recréer son beau maquillage naturel :

 

 

 

ALL MAC UNLESS SPECIFIED

FACE

Foundation: Studio fix liquid NW 45 (or whatever shade you wear)

Powder: I would use very lightly BOBBI BROWN face shimmer brick in Bronze with a buffer brush (MAC# 182)

Blush: Blunt

EYES

Base: Bronze color creme

Eyelid: NEO-SCI FI Time &space (all the way up to the crease)

Eyecrease: Brandy eyes are asian shaped, so she is not wearingany color in her crease

Highlighter: Unecessary for this look. You can always use a concealer a shade lighter than your complexion

Eyeliner: Boot black liquid liner on top and Feline or Blacktrack bottom

Lashes: LANCOME definicils mascara in black

LIPS

Liner: Costa Riche and mahagony inside the lips

Gloss: Revealing