Holiday Beauty Series: Makeup and Hair

Party season is in high gear by now. With Christmas being a hop, skip, and jump away, I know that you are in dire need of fresh beauty ideas to up your party glam game. Don’t fret, I’ve found a ton of hair and makeup trends that are sure to give your new sparkly dress and that favorite LBD the extra kick of chic that it needs. Here are my top picks for the best in makeup and hair trends this holiday 2015:

High Ponytail

Sleek, wavy, or feminine, a high ponytail should be your hairdo of choice if your dress has low-cut back or intricate back detailing.

The Grown Up Sock Bun

Now, we all love a messy sock bun when we’re relaxing at home. Take your go-to hairdo to the next level by making your bun voluminous by teasing it a la Cara Delevingne. You can also take a cue and keep it sleek a la J. Lo or accent it with a full-on bang like Rihanna.

Accessorize It

You can always count on  floral or crystal embellishment to cure to a bland hair style. When in doubt, accessorize.

Braided Beauty

Braids have a had a strong showing for multiple seasons now. This holiday season, braids move away from the bohemian and into more romantic and sophisticated territory.

Making Waves

Whether you opt for tousled waves like Jessica Alba or old Hollywood glam like Kate Beckinsale or Blake Lively, or even some asymmetrical action like Allison Williams, your curling iron will be your best friend this party season.

Tease Me

Add a whole lot of drama when you add a little bit of volume to your holiday hair style. A little bit of undone glam never hurt.

Images from PopSugar, Harper’s Bazaar

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Bold Lips

Statement lips never go out of style. Classic red, girly pink, or edgy and bold dark berry like Kim Kardashian-West, let your lips do the talking this holiday party season.

Glow On

Enhance your skin’s natural beauty with understated stained lips, gold shimmer on the lids, and a sweep of bronzer.

Color Splash

This season be brave and experiment eyeshadow and liner in shades of blue, mauve and purple.

Smoke It Out

Smoky eyes are always a winner when it comes to nailing a sexy, party look. Deviate from the standard dark, black smoky eye, and try out a softer brown smoky eye.

Walk the Line

A dramatic cat eye is all you need to draw attention to your gorgeous eyes. Put a little mascara on, and you’re all set.

Images from Harper’s Bazaar and InStyle

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Which hair and makeup trend will you be trying on for your next party? I’m excited to try a brown smoky eye and a high ponytail. Happy holidays everyone!

Style Icon: Cara Delevingne

If you thought that Brit model Cara Delevingne was big last year, expect her to blow up and become an even bigger star this year. Starring in the much anticipated onscreen adaptation of John Green’s “Paper Towns,” set to come out this summer, Cara D. will make the Hollywood red carpets her new runway. She’s already conquered pretty much every designer’s runway out there anyway, now she’s set her sights on a film career. This model’s career trajectory has been nothing short of stellar. She became a supermodel seemingly overnight, with her face on every major label’s campaign and her signature brows spotted on every important fashion show. She’s shown off excellent street style too. Here are my top 10 picks of some of her best style moments:

Who can forget this studded Burberry number that Cara wore during the Met Gala? She totally nailed that year’s theme of Punk Couture. With super smoky and dark eyes and multiple piercings on one ear, Cara ruled the red carpet that night.

Her off-duty model style is what it’s all about. A slinky black sheath dress is a model style must. Perfectly complemented with a rich and luscious oversized camel coat, a black and white striped clutch, and black heeled sandals, this classic look offsets her fashionably undone bun.

Now this is the Cara we know and love. Laidback, sexy, and completely cool, she expresses her signature tomboy chic and rebellious style even in the most casual of outfits. She accessorizes denim overalls and flip-flops with on-trend extras like a wide-brim hat, mirrored sunglasses, and a paisley one-piece.

You didn’t think she’d wear a pantsuit in the “normal” way, do you? Cara flips the script on this tailored staple with a pair of bright and bold color blocked runners, and a bare cleavage accessorized with layered gold necklaces. Youthful and a little bit subversive, this look is precisely what makes Cara Delevingne a modern style icon.

High-waist black skinnies with an oversized belt buckle? Yes, please. Cara certainly knows the power of contrast, the nude button-down against stark black, large accessory vs. tailored and skinny. It’s all about the mix. The edgy buckled boots are a great addition too.

You can’t expect Cara to show up in an evening event in just a typical cocktail dress. She amps up evening dress by a couple of notches by flaunting her statuesque legs in a velvet blazer dress. Textured, luxe, sexy, and short, Cara definitely knows what she’s doing.

Leave it to this newly minted style icon to take a vintage graphic tee to greater heights. She pairs her tee with prim and proper trousers and red satin court pumps. The red lip, studded clutch, and her bold brows complete this style statement and make it more than appropriate for a night out on the town.

Her tomboy style and love for hats come together in this adorable street style look. From the buttoned-up gauzy blouse to the on-trend pastel blue shorts, she channels 60s Twiggy in this incredibly chic look. Throw in the black platform sandals and wide-brim hat and you get fashion perfection.

I simply can’t get enough of Cara’s tuxedo looks. She manages to wear this tailored style staple in so many different ways, and she makes it looks fresh every single time. Her take, this time around, involves a double-breasted jacket detail, contrast lapel, wine stained lips, and zip-up booties. Can it get any better than this? This is edgy evening to a T.

Don’t let Cara’s love for street style fool you. She can definitely glam it up if she wants or needs to. This look is evidence of that. A beautiful glittering column gown with a side slit combined with black details and accessories, this is definitely a recipe for a rebel chic red carpet look.

Do you love Cara’s style as much as I do? Sound off in the comments about your favorite look!

Beauty Report: Fall 2014 Makeup Trends

Refresh your beauty routine and add a few products into your makeup kit this fall. Like your wardrobe, your makeup look should be seasonal too. There’s no need to make a radical overhaul of your beauty kit, you should keep your standard go-to products in there as a base, but also make room for trends in your makeup dresser.

Fall is always so exciting since it brings with it so much opportunity to experiment with something new and discover a new look that works with your natural beauty and enhances it. Here ‘s a rundown of my favorite beauty trends from the Fall 2014 runway:

Read My Lips

Lip color trends are what I look forward to the most each season. Your lipstick of choice is the easiest and quickest way to update your beauty look and make it more current. Donning seasonal shades and trendy colors drastically improve the overall impact of your makeup look. Moreover, lipstick shades don’t require too much commitment from you and it is so easy and fun to play around with different hues! At Missoni and Nicole Miller, lips reminiscent of summer and were orange-tinged, while Anna Sui and Zac Posen showed a glamorously intense scarlet lip. The reign of the bold and intense colored lip isn’t over yet. However, natural looking puckers are proving to be a worthy contender to this trend. Berry tinged lips at Prada and Carolina Herrera had me reaching for lip tint instead of full on lip color.

Au Naturel

This season, designers have embraced the normcore trend in beauty–the no makeup makeup look. This elusive and hard to achieve look is decidedly dewy with a natural glow. It’s not about mattifying this fall, it’s about showing off the natural beauty of your skin. Go back to basics and just opt for some light cover-up, cause nobody’s perfect after all. Some lip and cheeks stain will give just the right amount of color and finish off this look flawlessly.

Metal Detector

From Rodarte to Altuzarra, it was all about high-octane heavy metal this season. You can go really heavy handed with the glitter and the glam because that is exactly the most coveted and most high fashion beauty look for Fall 2014. If you’re feeling extra risky, you can even match your metallic eyeshadow with some metallic lip color. Forget that dark smoky eye and opt for silver, gold, and bronze on your lids for your next night out.

High Brow

Slow down on those tweezers girl. This season it’s time to let your brows grow out a little bit for the look that is inspired by fashion’s latest it girl, model and girl about town Cara Delevingne. These boyish inspired brows are sure to shoot up your chic factor by a thousand percent instantly. Keep them groomed and shaped with a simple routine of clear mascara or some light brow powder.

Mod Appeal

 

The 60s were a big decade on the runway for Fall 2014. From glitter go-go boots to pop art floral prints, the fashion industry is going mod this time around. Of course, beauty trends and looks are sure to follow the inspiration of the clothing, colors, prints, and fabrics. Twiggy-esque lashes are one of the most copied looks off the runway, not to mention the easiest to pull off and work into your everyday personal style. Open up those peepers with doll-like lashes, and make sure to separate those lashes after multiple coats of mascara.

Walk the Line

 

Go for maximum drama and high watt impact with your eyeliner, and take your cat-eye liner beyond your usual limits. It is exactly this exaggerated line and very editorial liner look that will separate your beauty look, and take you from ordinary to extraordinary. This is also a very wearable and versatile look that you can easily translate from day to night. Try this dramatic cat-eye in a colored line, if you dare.

So which trend will you be taking out for a spin this season? I can’t wait to get creative and play with my makeup kit! Have a great week lovely ladies!

Images from Allure, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle Magazine and The Zoe Report