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What’s Your Makeup Look for a Job Interview?

October 5, 2009

Anyone looking for a job or career change? Those of you who are will most likely be familiar with the excitement of finally getting an interview but also know the anxiety of having to go through the process.

It’s nerve-wracking being evaluated on your skills and competencies from a grilling 30-90 minute interview. The best thing I feel I can can do is be prepared to the best I can and be confident about it. For me, a key part of feeling confident is feeling comfortable and looking my best. I like to keep it simple, polished and professional. But, each time, I still go through a “what should I wear?” moment, so I stick to basics and neutrals and avoid new things and lots of shimmer at all costs.

I’d like to open it up to my readers and ask you what is your interview face?

 Tell me:
* What types of jobs have you been looking for (corporate, finance, marketing, retail, fine arts etc.)?
* Do you have any tips or techniques or a go-to look that you feel worked for you for interviews?
* What are your favorite colors (specific brands and shades) you like to use?
* If you’re on the employer side – any tips or input from you? What are some no-no’s?

One upside to having gone through several interviews is being able to observe how your interviewers dress and present themselves. This has helped give me some guidelines on how to dress and what not to wear. Here is what I wore to a recent interview with a Jcrew Navy Pinstipe Suit, cream scoopneck sweater-shirt, black closed-toe pumps (for corporate finance type position):

Face: Nars Sheer Matte Foundation in Punjab
Chanel Double Perfection Powder Foundation in Tender Bisque dusted very lightly
Le Metier Fresh Blush + Whisper Highlighter for a barely-there blush

Eyes: Bobbi Brown Malted Cream Eyeshadow
Nars Abyssinia Single Eyeshadow dusted lightly over 3/4 of the eye
Le Metier Milan Eyeshadow to contour softly (blended so there was no visible line)
Dolce & Gabbana Coffee Liner smudged with Nars Bali (for a soft defined liner, again no visible defined line)
Diorshow Iconic Waterproof (just to define the lashes)

Lips: MAC Sublime Culture Lipliner
Chanel Ming Rouge Allure Laque

My husband gave me his approval before I left the house. What do you think?

I know it’s not the makeup they should notice, but rather the applicant – but there still requires some planning and thought for getting that “no-makeup look,” of course with makeup. I’d love to hear what colors and products you use for your interviews!

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Edward Bess Lipsticks & Glosses = Natural Perfection

October 4, 2009

Those who like natural lip colors but have a hard time finding one that works for you, I highly recommend you check out the shades from Edward Bess. I now have six lipsticks and two glosses and have more coming in the mail.

It can be challenging to pick something sight unseen – still unsure about the shades from the pictures? Call the Bergdorf Goodman counter and the girls there are excellent at recommending shades and describing them in full detail.

The Ultra Slick Lipsticks retail for $29 are made with a hydrating formula that is rich in pigment and made with Vitamins A & E. They are also “scented with the subtle fragrance of wild fig.”

My review: The lipsticks are indeed radiant and rich in pigment. The coverage is full without being too heavy or drying. I’ve worn Pure Impulse with MAC Dazzleglass in Bare Necessity and it lasted from about 4 pm until 10 pm. They do have a subtle sweet berry candy-like scent but it’s not too strong to be bothersome.

Lipsticks from the regular line:
* Pure Impulse – perfect natural nude (featured last week)
* Forbidden Flower – soft creamy light coral peach with a hint of pink
* Secret Desire – natural everyday your lips but better creamy pink

New for fall include three pinkish berry plum colors, all still natural and wearable (NOTE, I highly recommend checking out the feature on blogdorfgoodman – her photos of the fall lip colors are more accurate in my opinion, in my picture they all look the same for some reason):
* Tender Love – to me, the most natural of the three, a soft natural mauve rose
* Forever Yours – a natural light raspberry
* Night Romance – the brightest/coolest-toned of the three, a cool berry mauve rose

Closer view:

The Deep Shine Lip Glosses are equally stunning and retail for $28. Described as “seductive” with “radiance” and are supposed to be hydrating to create full lips.

My thoughts: My current favorite non-shimmery glosses are from Bobbi Brown for their gorgeous and long-lasting colors. However, they can be a bit thick and sticky (which I actually don’t mind). Edward Bess has some great non-shimmery shades that have decent lasting power, but without the sticky factor. Also scented with the same fragrance as the lipsticks.

Colors I have:
* Soft Whisper – the perfect nude-beige (featured last week)
* Bare Rose – a pretty creamy pink that matches Forbidden Flower but leans more towards the pink versus peach. If you love milky pinks, but find they are often too pale or milky, you will find that Edward Bess’s Bare Rose Gloss is a brighter version that will work a lot better for you.

Swatches in natural light, no flash:
* Top (l to r): Soft Whisper Lipgloss, Bare Rose Lipgloss
* Bottom (l to r): Pure Impulse, Forbidden Flower, Secret Desire, Tender Love, Forever Yours, Night Romance

Swatches with flash, same order as above:

See Sunday’s post for swatches of the entire collection to date directly from Bergdorf Goodman. Think you’ll like most of the colors and willing to splurge for *all* of them? Check out their luxurious Lip Wardrobe which has 10 lipsticks and 5 lipglosses for $400 (comes out to about $26.67 per piece) all in a gorgeous black lacquered box. (Details on edwardbess.com)

Photo from Bergdorf Goodman’s catalog:

Edward Bess products are available for sale on his website Edwardbess.com and also at Bergdorf Goodman.

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Edward Bess Product Swatches

October 3, 2009

I received these swatches in the mail from Krista from the Edward Bess counter at Bergdorfs today. Those interested in Edward Bess’s line but aren’t near NYC to check out his colors in person, I hope this post will help you!

Huge hugs and kisses to the ladies at Edward Bess. I love everything and thank you so much for these swatches.

FYI, a few notes and disclaimers:
* The glosses have tape over the swatches to prevent bleeding
* In the top photo, the first gloss Desert Glow (pale flesh beige) has bled into Soft Whisper (nude-beige) – so please click on the photo for larger viewing
* I am not affiliated with Bergdorf Goodman or Edward Bess – just a very happy customer
* Please note these swatches may vary on your screen compared to what I see

Other tips:
* Check Makeupalley.com for awesome product reviews
* There are additional swatches at Edwardbess.com
* Check out THIS LINK for other resources (Blogdorfgoodman, The Non-Blonde & The Beauty Alchemist)

I will be posting photos and swatches of the lipsticks I bought in the next week!

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Edward Bess Daydream Ultra Luminous Bronzer

October 3, 2009

I am excited to feature more pictures and swatches of Edward Bess products in the next few days. My feelings for his line have grown from intrigue to anticipation to pure adoration for his high quality and richly pigmented classic colors. For face products, Edward Bess currently has two shades of his Ultra Luminous Bronzer and for my skintone I was recommended Daydream.

Daydream is a satiny soft bronze color that is somewhere in between matte and shimmery. One thing I love about many of the Edward Bess products is that at first glance, the colors look basic and ordinary, but if you look closely at the bronzer and eyeshadows you can see a soft glowy-ness with gorgeous shimmers that give it a natural depth once applied to the skin.

Here is Daydream compared to some other neutral bronzers I have: Becca Duende, MAC Golden, Bobbi Brown Bali Brown, Giorgio Armani Bronze Mania #5 and Chanel Sierra (discontinued). My swatches ended up looking muddy, but to help compare Edward Bess Daydream to the other shades, it is the truest-tan brown, without any hints of orange, more pigmented and darker than MAC Golden, similar to Bobbi Brown Bali Brown minus the shimmer and a bit more tan.

I think this would work well with medium-tones. The price of this bronzer is $48 which I felt was steep, but I know it will give me the tanned glow I love without having to worry about too much shimmer or looking too flat.

Overall thoughts: The products in his line are priced on the higher side than the average high-end luxury brand with prices along the lines of Armani, Chanel and YSL. Even so, I want more of his products and wish he made blushes! Hopefully he will release some in the future at a reasonable price.

FYI, according to Fabulous Over Forty’s article Edward Bess: The Latest of Color and Class, expect to see a cream blush out for the holidays around November!)

I look forward to trying out more of his products, perhaps visiting New York to see the entire line in person, and hope his line will see the same success as Bobbi Brown who also started her line at Bergdorf Goodman with 10 classic lipsticks (of course in his own unique personal way). For pictures of more Edward Bess items I have, check out First Look at Edward Bess: Naturally Chic.

Stay tuned for more posts about the lipsticks and glosses!

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Dolce & Gabbana Ultra Shine Lipgloss, Smooth Eye Color Duo & More Blush

October 2, 2009

I took advantage of the Saks Beauty Week Event and placed an order the from NY store. Turns out the mailer card I received wasn’t entirely true when it said you would get 20 different samples in the goodie bag. At least there was a good GWP with Dolce & Gabbana of Seduction Lipgloss (was told the gift would be Candy, but I’m actually really happy with Seduction).

Here’s what arrived today:

* Luminous Cheek Colors in Delight (soft pinky rose) & Provocative (bright pink)
* Ultra Shine Lipglosses in Baby (shimmery baby-barbie pink), Sunset (soft peachy shimmer) & Seduction GWP (creamy nude pink-rose)
* Smooth Eye Color Duo in Stromboli (smokey black with silver micro sparkles & nude champagne shimmer)

L to R: Delight Blush, Stromboli Duo & Provocative Blush:

Delight:

Provocative:

Stromboli Eyeshadow Duo:

Ultra Shine Lipglosses, L to R: Baby (bubble gum shimmery pink), Sunset (shimmery peach), Seduction (nude rose cream)

Top to Bottom: Baby, Sunset, Seduction

Another view:

Swatches (note the flash enhanced the shimmer in the first picture making Baby & Sunset look frostier and lighter than they actually do):

This gives you a better idea of the undertone:


I haven’t tried the lipglosses on my lips yet, but they seem to be thick and very pigmented. They have the same rose scent as the lipsticks. Baby looked so much prettier in the promotion pictures – in reality, it’s brighter and more barbie-like, but still wearable in my opinion.

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MAC Dsquared² Nude Rose Lustre Lipstick

October 1, 2009

MAC released their Dsquared² collection earlier than planned so I checked out the new colors and came home with Nude Rose Lustre Lipstick which is just that, a soft nude milky pink rose. I went through my lipstick stash to pull all the other soft pinky shades I’ve collected over the years from MAC and have concluded that I simply MUST STOP buying these milky pink colors! While it is very pretty and wearable, it’s not that unique and very similar to other shades MAC has released before.

Here are the comparisons to other MAC shades (I believe all were LE or discontinued except for Creme Cup):

L to R: 1) Classical, 2) Pure Rose, 3) Hue, 4) Her Fancy, 5) 3N, 6) Nude Rose, 7) Way to Love, 8) Pink Glaze, 9) California Dreamin’, 10) Creme Cup

Another view:

* Note since most of these are lustres or glazes, they are very sheer and so most of them don’t show up very well on my arm

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Bobbi Brown Pewter Chrome Eyeshadow & Earth Metal Palette

October 1, 2009

These were found at Neimans yesterday – they had all the first round of holiday sets out for Bobbi Brown including the full-size tube tint set, full-size lip gloss set, velvet plum eyeshadow palette etc. They also had the rich color glosses (I passed on all of these because I couldn’t find a single color I unique enough or pretty enough). They also had their exclusive Black Plum Deluxe Brush Collection with the full size brushes. No sightings of those cute mini shimmer bricks yet – I believe the ship date for those was in November.

Came home with the Chrome Eyeshadow in Pewter $22 (Saks.com) and Earth Metal Palette $60 (on Saks.com and Bobbibrowncosmetics.com) even though there are several events I should have waited for happening on the 15th of this month (my local Nordies is having their fall event at all the counters with GWPs, Saks has their friends and family starting around that time, and Neimans will have their Incircle event with GWPs too).

Hopefully these pictures will help! In response to the request for “more picture views without flash” I’ve tried to include a lot more different shots this time. So be warned this is picture heavy!



Size comparisons:

Top close up:

Swatches of the Pewter Eyeshadows and Earth Metal Palette over bare skin, no base:

L to R: Pewter Metallic, Pewter Chrome, Autumn SW, Earth Metal Metallic, Zinc Metallic, Black Spruce Metallic, Sunset Gold Metallic, Antique Gold Metallic, Paisley Rose Creamy, Rose Garden Creamy, Rose Bud Creamy, Barefoot Shimmer Creamy

Pewter Metallic (left) and Pewter Chrome (right):

Pewter Metallic (left) and Pewter Chrome (right) in natural sunlight:

I posted about the exclusive Pewter Metallic Eye Set at Nordstrom in August and many of you have inquired “is the Pewter Metallic going to be the same as Pewter Chrome?” My answer is that they are very similar but not the same. I prefer the metallic version, the chrome is slightly harder in formula, more shiny (hence the chrome aspect), and more silver-cool.

Overall thoughts about the Earth Metal Palette – feelings are mixed. For $60 the palette is pretty tiny and not worth the price. Products should have been larger and the brushes in the set are the worst I have ever seen. Pigmentation of the eyeshadows is also mixed, some are less pigmented than others.

I really liked her format of her most recent Nudes Eyeshadow Palette and felt it was worth the $60 price tag. If she had released an eyeshadow palette like this with the Earth Metal Colors I would have felt it a better buy.

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