Category: Make up

Summer’s over: Views on single life from movie View from the Top!

~ Emmie Reve ~ Leave a comment

This was my first summer as a single girl in about 5 years, can you imagine? I have been in a long term relationship since then that ended early this year in the spring, and I have never looked back.  Not even once.  How is it that I have found so much comfort in being on my own, when the whole world seems to be looking for relationships and romance?  I don’t know, but the reality of it is…a relationship is a lot of work!  As women, we put so much into dating and our boyfriends, and when we think about it, how productive would we be if we were single, spent our time on ourselves, our work and career, our family and friends?  We could finally be the “super” women that is expected of us–to be everything and more.

I recently saw the movie “View from the Top” again, as it was playing TV, and I remembered why I liked it.  It was on the W Network, which is notorious for showcasing sappy rom coms that bombed with critics and viewers alike.  And the movie “View from the Top”, from 2003, was no exception.  It was a critical flop, but I actually really loved this movie many reasons: It talked about beauty, ambition–it was about a woman’s journey for love and career, and it was also pretty funny (Mike Myers was in it). Donna Jenkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) is a woman with a mission to become a flight attendant, but not just any flight attendant, but to be the best.  She has to choose between the man who loves her and her career destiny, and is back stabbed by her girl friend along the way, hence an over the top cat fight scene with Christina Applegate.  Loved it. So much fun. (**spoilers of the movie ahead, beware…)

I like the retro glam of this movie...as it seems to make reference to the hey days of flying...
I like the retro glam of this movie…as it seems to make reference to the hey days of flying…

Reasons why “View from the Top” was not a turkey: (*spoilers)

  1. It is about following your dreams. Whatever they might be. Donna wanted to be a flight attendant, and loved the glamour and worldly prestige it gave her: to be elegant, classy and well-traveled, which seemed to be the antidote of her upbringing in a trailer park in a no-where town.  Even if you have no desire to be a flight attendant, it is a metaphor to go for your dreams whatever they may be…and to be ambitious about it.

    A great scene from the movie with her gal pals as they try to get out of their small town beginnings...
    A great scene from the movie with her gal pals as they try to get out of their small town beginnings…
  2. Donna put her career before her man. Here she was, with Ted (Mark Ruffalo) telling her he was in love with her, and to stay with him in Cleveland, but she chose to go to Paris, as a first class flight attendant, because she believed it was her true calling.  She put her needs first.

    Mark Ruffalo before being the Hulk. Just the perfect boyfriend to tempt a gal to lose sight of her goals!
    Mark Ruffalo before being the Hulk. Just the perfect boyfriend to tempt a gal to lose sight of her goals!
  3. After realizing she made a mistake, Donna takes responsibility for it and fixes it.  When Donna realized she loved Ted back and had proven to herself she could be the top at what she does, only then does she go back to Ted in Cleveland, and tells him she wants to be with him.  It proves she is on her own journey, and not on his.

    When Donna finally makes it! love the perfect make-up and hair. Gone were her tacky trailer park ways.
    When Donna finally makes it! love the perfect make-up and hair. Gone were her tacky trailer park ways.
  4. Paltrow gives a great performance on the eternal struggle of beauty vs brains vs ambition and is always super pretty, whether in her hicktown get ups, or in her evolution to classy Parisian lady. Fashion and make-up wise, what more can you ask for?

    Go girl, you classy fashionista! What a gorgeous departure from how she used to look. What a make-over!
    Go girl, you classy fashionista! What a gorgeous departure from how she used to look. What a make-over!

But back to my own thoughts of my summer on my own:  I’ve loved it.  I’ve launched my company selling online cosmetics with natural ingredients: dreamecosmetics.com, spent quality time with friends and family, and have just realized how nice it is to not have a boyfriend.  To be my own person, trying to make a living, and trying to live in this world. 🙂  I am not saying that “View from the Top” was negative for making Donna need to be with Ted in conclusion (as so many people had complained). I respect all choices of women, but boy am I glad to be on my own and aiming for the top, with no regrets or desire to settle any time soon.

Make-up for sad, puffy eyes!

~ Emmie Reve ~ 1 Comment

My spring/summer of minor health problems continues, only this time end of June hit me with eye allergies.  After trying out a new skin oil on my face, I developed an allergic reaction.  My eyes went from normal to bright red over night, and had me running to the doctor hoping it was not an infection.  Finding out it was just an allergic reaction, I treated it with eye drops and allergy medication.  Soon the red started to disappear…but to my frustration, the symptom of puffiness lagged on.  I would wake up with swollen eyes daily. I was using everything from ice, chilled tea bags, to cucumber slices to reduce the swelling….but nothing seemed to fully get rid of the puffiness on the top lid and puff bags underneath.

Not that puffy, swollen eyes are the most horrendous looking thing for a girl to have, it was still better than the acne I suffered from earlier this spring.  But I did have comments from people saying I looked “sad” or “stressed”; questions about if I was going to cry!?  I am an emotional gal, and am sensitive about it, so it was definitely not pleasant to have my facial mood judged and commented on.  All those perceptions from others were made based on my face appearance when in reality, I was just recovering from eye allergies! So this was a problem. I was also meeting people around this time, and knew for a better first impression, I needed a stronger fix than cold tea bags and ice on my eyes.

In comes the smokey eye make-up!  I have never been a fan of the smokey eye. Too dramatic for everyday, and bordering on a goth art student aesthetics…it was just not practical, semi-dated.  I usually opt for a more minimal approach to my make-up; sticking with youthful light coloured shimmer shadows. But there is nothing that covers puffiness better than matte black, greys, and neutral shadows.  Something about black matte shadows suggest a receding in effect, perfect to combat my eye’s puffing out effect.  So I set out to rediscover the “smokey eye”.  I figured out a way to do a subtle smokey eye that could be worn daily by me to hide puffiness as my eyes continued to heal…or for days where they puffed up again. yikes.

How I took out excessive “glam” in the smokey eye make-up:

(Apply foundation/bb and setting powder first and prep face)

  1. Start with a nude eye shadow as base over the whole lid from lashline to brow.  This helps with blending a smooth gradation between different shades of shadow that will be applied on top of eyelid.
  2. Use a really dark, matte black shadow as a liner, and line a thick line above your lashline accentuating your eyes shape.  Thicker in the outer corners, and flicking up slightly as if doing a cat eye shape.  Thinly line the bottom lid corners with black shadow too.
  3. Fill in and soften the black shadow line with a grey matte shadow.  This gradation should be subtle, and also following the angled shape of the black shadow.  Stop about mid eye lid so that it is not overly dramatic.
  4. Use a tiny bit of liquid liner to clean up the outer edge of the cat eye made by the black eye shadow.  Do this by out lining the shape lightly, and filling in more intensely in the outer eyes corners, and thinning away at mid point of the eye.
  5. Very important: Use a clean, fluffy shadow blending brush all over the top and bottom lid to smudge and make extra “smokey”.  Without this step, you will not get a nice blurred gradation, and that is what makes a dark smokey eye not harsh.
This is a really cool shadow palette I got from NYX. The reason I like them is that their shadows are really pigmented...this helps to cover up puff...
This is a really cool shadow palette I got from NYX. The reason I like them is that their shadows are really pigmented…this helps to cover up puff…

 

not sad, or puff, just shadowy cover when you need it.
not sad, or puff, just shadowy cover when you need it.

I find this look is not overly dramatic, and can be worn daily, even on simple errands.  And as a make-up for a first meeting or date, it knocks it out of the ball park, because I says you’re “fashion”, but not “high-maintenance”.  And it helped me hide those “sad” puffy eyes of mine, and kept random, public judgements at bay.  😛

My first battle with acne came much later than my teens!

~ Emmie Reve ~ 2 Comments

So, acne.  What is it?  It is red blemishes that infiltrate your face, puff up, ooze crap and possibly get infected and leave long lasting scars.  What acne sounds like is something similar to a relationship with a bad boyfriend; unavoidable to some degree, and once its started you have to get the f*** out, with minimal damage. Yep, the bad boyfriend relationship is an accurate analogy and so is the idea that avoiding them is key.

So many things can trigger a series of pimples, cold sores or blemishes.  Recently, I went from being a blemish free beauty, to a skin ravaged freak within a couple of weeks.  I have just recovered from two really red spots of infection brought on by a harsh strain of acne bacteria, and a cold sore that would not stop looking gross and diseased until recently.  Needless to say, I survived, but not without battle scars.  My left cheek now bears two red marks, even after they’ve healed for months, and there is still discoloration from the cold sore on my upper lip that healed just last week.  And what have I learned from all of this? Acne and blemishes are something better prevented than treated, like all illnesses.

How I dealt with my adult acne so it doesn’t come back:

  1. Clean everything and sanitize everything: Wash your hands 20 times a day, try not to touch your face, there are bacteria on your hand that want to infect your pores.  Sanitize your make-up brushes by washing them every once in a while, wipe all your make-up surfaces with rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab.
  2. Boost your immune system: believe it or not, your immune system can fight off skin afflictions.  So get plenty of rest, vitamins, minerals and exercise, eat well. Bacteria and viruses cannot take over when your skin is in top form.
  3. Don’t pop your pimples, or pick at them. The odd pimple I used to have I would squeeze them to reduce swelling.  However, I found out this can cause more scarring, and redness, so now I leave them alone.
  4. Get medication.  Most of the time, my acne is mild and will go away without problems.  But sometimes medicated oitments and creams help keep the inflammation at bay and speed healing and minimize redness.  I like to use anything with salicylic acid, as it is pretty gentle and will still dry out and encourage skin regeneration after a zit has died. But don’t over use it.
  5. Wash off all traces of make-up at night.  I have dry skin, so sometimes I just wipe off make-up with coconut oil and call it a night.  While this is very gentle for your skin, it can also leave you with a clogged pore, which if bacteria gets at it, then it is game over.  Finding a balance is important.  Don’t over strip your face of natural oils and moisture, but also cleanliness is very important.

Have any of you battled with adult acne recently?  Wasn’t it embarassing?  Mine was followed with a cold sore when my immunity was weak from a cold.  Plus with spring coming into Toronto, I feel a whole new batch of germs is following suite.  We don’t want to be germ phobic, but really…blemishes are the worst.

Waahh. :( this is me first thing in the morning without make-up on, and yes, you can definitely see the red blemish scars on my cheek and the dark discoloration on the lip corner. Only time can erase these and it is going to take a while.
Waahh. 😦 this is me first thing in the morning without make-up on, and yes, you can definitely see the red blemish scars on my cheek and the dark discoloration on the lip corner. Only time can erase these and it is going to take a while.