SHUTTER BUG

Like many Instagram worshipers, you’ll find us glued to our feeds whenever we catch a free moment. But, when it comes to the heart of our jobs — a.k.a. those gorg tutorials and how-tos, we’re often questioned about which camera we use. You’re most likely to find us behind  lens of a Canon 5D. Sure, you’ll find more filters on an iPhone than drink options at Starbucks, but no smartphone will ever deliver the same detail as an SLR camera. Whether we’re capturing a close-up on some nail art or documenting a certain hair texture (as seen in the photo  below), our Canon never leaves our side. We’re so smitten with quality, we’ve had zero qualms with leaving behind our touchscreens when it’s time to seek out inspiration for upcoming TBD posts. As evidenced by our office’s mood board, toting around pro equipment is essential for capturing vibrant colors and crisp images — now we know how photographers felt before cell phones were equipped with lenses!

photos: Kristin Ess, written by Sarah St. Lifer

Not only does our day-to-day life influence our work, but so do the iconic muses of yore. You know what we’re talking about: those gasp-worthy portraits of Bianca Jagger dancing at Studio 54, Jackie O. dodging the paparazzi, or Sophia Loren being a bona fide bombshell at the beach. You could say we’re constantly borrowing from the old-school icons, while staying on top of today’s trends. Without the trusty trigger of our Canon along with some old school vintage photographs, our day-to-day might be a little less inspiring.


Confession: A bunch of those brilliantly-lit photos we publish on TBD were taken at night. Did we fool you? Well, blame it on the Canon 5D. Since our days are often booked with back-to-back meetings, the only availability we have for tutorials is when the sun starts to set (What can we say? We’re a dedicated bunch!). Even in low light situations, you can still achieve that clear and bright shot, sans a vibrant light source. Added bonus: You can rock that fancy ‘do to dinner! Magic!


When it comes to social media, we’re all about natural light. But, while shooting outdoors, we’ll sometimes encounter direct L.A. sunlight. Way harsh, Tai!  In order to make those snaps as perfect as a Noxzema commercial, we bust out our trusty Canon (can you tell we’re a Clueless-obsessed crew?). Trust, we’re still learning the camera’s many settings! But, just switching the tab from portrait mode to landscape helped us achieve that softer light we were searching for. (If only choosing a nail polish shade were that simple!)


The trickiest tutorials to capture? Probably nail art. Those features are all about the details, and it would be an injustice to those dazzling digits if we photographed them with anything less than a pro lens. Whether we’re zooming in on some glitter or photographing the end result, the Canon takes care of business. Sweet dreams are made of this!


What’s the point in preparing a magazine-worthy photo shoot when the camera quality isn’t up to par? We want our readers to enjoy every minute detail, down to the petals on some pretty peonies! Textures tend to be much more dynamic, and you can’t argue with the color quality. Wowza!


Even the everyday items in our studio look like little pieces of art when we snap ‘em with our Canon. Hair and makeup tools never let us down, so capturing them in a flattering way is the least we could do!

sponsored by Canon

Even off duty, we can’t help but bust out our “big girl camera”. Whether we’re on a hike, BBQ’ing by the beach, or braiding each other’s hair in the park (seems cliché but we do it!), the camera goes where we go! Check out our Graphic Design Assistant getting her hair done by one of our writers! Those out-of-office moments are just as important to us as the how-to’s. We couldn’t do it without our 5D, a.k.a. our secret weapon.
Do you own a Canon SLR? Are you planning on investing in one for your blog? If so, what model? Tell us about it in the comments below!

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H 2 ohhhhh….

Photo: http://www.ignant.de

We all know that we’re supposed to drink lots of water everyday.  Drinking 8-12 glasses of agua daily has countless health benefits.  Also, your appearance benefits from drinking enough water each day.  Water hydrates your skin making you look younger and it assists in weight loss.  So why don’t we drink more?  Because next to delicious lattes and flavored fizzy drinks water falls flat.  It’s, dare we say, a little boring.  So here are a few ways to jazz up your H2O…

• Fruit – Slice it up and toss it in.  Try different fruits or even different combinations of fruit. Some popular ones are cucumbers, lemons, limes, oranges, strawberries, raspberries… and the list goes on.
• Mint – Try adding a few mint leaves to your water.  It will give it a refreshing twist.
• Ice – Fill an ice tray with your favorite all natural fruit juice and put it in the freezer. When the cubes have frozen try adding a couple to your water for a hint of flavor.

XO Lauren

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NEON AND ON AND ON

written by Jaclyn R. Johnson, post designed by Eunice Chun

The neon trend kicked off when every editor under the sun was carrying their Cambridge Satchel Company electric messenger bag (you all know the one!). Now the trend has moved into hair accessories, nail polish, socks, shoes, you name it! As such, we have put together a must-have list of neon items that are all under $75. Why under  $75? I believe that one should always splurge on classic pieces and go cheaper on trends (like neon, navajo, etc.). That being said, here are my picks:
Bottoms: Rag and Bone is making the hottest neon jeans out there (hands down) but I have to say TOPSHOP is coming in a close second and they are under $75!  Also on the radar and currently in my closet are the Sparkle & Fade neon minis at Urban, they are amazingly flattering and perfect for summer!
Accessories: I absolutely love this Neon Box Chain Necklace from Forever 21 only $10 and these hot pink neon socks from Topshop would look adorable paired with a summer wedge! I love the combination of the clear crystals and the bright neon ribbon in this piece and one of my fav online jewelry shop’s, Bauble Bar, has some amazing pieces including these adorable neon studs!  I am also a big fan of the neon bra trend (of course paired with a loose tank!). Lastly, a neon belt is a must have for the summer since it can add pop to any and all outfits.

Shoes: Neon shoes are showing major promise!  I think these super casual and fun neon VANS are perfect to pair with a floral summer dress! And these adorable Dolce Vita hot pink with metallic detail sandals look far more expensive then their $69 price tag and are definitely a must have.

Voila! You are all set! Nab a few of these neon items and you are sure to be on trend for the summer season!

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FASHION FRIDAY: TBD SUMMER FAVES

photos: kohls, shoemint, zara; post by amy nadine; graphic design by eunice chun

Summer is our favorite season to be carefree and have a little fun! So today we’re sharing our four favorite pairs of summer must-have shoes along with nail shades to either match them or clash them!
FAVORITE WEDGE: We fell in love with these beauties by LC by Lauren Conrad for Kohls on our last shoot with Lauren because of the happy periwinkle shade paired with the cork wedge!
MATCH IT: this one from Deborah Lippman
CLASH IT: this one from Chanel
FAVORITE SANDAL: I became obsessed with these canary sandals from Rachel Bilson’s Shoemint line doing her makeup for the summer shoot (yes, between Lauren and Rachel, I have the best job on the planet!) because they add a brilliant pop of color to brighten any outfit.
MATCH IT: this one from Deborah Lippman
CLASH IT: this one from OPI
FAVORITE PUMP: We picked these tri-colored heels from Zara because they couldn’t be more on trend for the season and are beyond sexy!
MATCH IT: this one from American Apparel
CLASH IT: this one from NARS By Thakoon
FAVORITE PLATFORM: I died when Rachel showed me her design for these platform heels and died a second time when they came out! If you haven’t checked out her Shoemint line yet, trust me, you will squeal every month when her new styles come out to choose from. They are heaven in a box (and a steal not a splurge!). Membership is free, shipping and returns are free, our first-time buyers get 20% off their first pair… anyway, we just love these tomato-colored Mia’s!

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OBSESSORIES: LAST MINUTE GIFTS

post: Jaclyn Johnson of SomeNotesOnNapkins.com graphic design: Eunice Chun

To get some genius last minute gift ideas, we went to our trusted gifting guru Jaclyn Johnson of Some Notes on Napkins. Holidays are hard but have no fear, she’s here to help us find baubles and bling that are decently priced!

The Bling:

• A Merry Mishap– is not only an adorable blog but an adorable etsy shop! I love these cute geo earrings (they come in a bunch of colors) and would pair great with a  perfectly coiffed top knot for a killer holiday look.
• Also on our radar are these mini bow tie studs from Bauble Bar that are too cute for words. (silence)

The Elements:

• It’s Winter which means sleet, rain, snow, etc. but let your friends bear the elements in style with this scalloped edge brelly
• Or these adorable ombre armwarmers.

The iPhone Addict

• We all have the friend who grams/texts/tweets for a living. If your friend is glued to their iPhone try this holga lens adjustable iPhone case.
• And, for the design-obsessed lover you cannot go wrong with anything Pantone.

The Feet:

• These girly yet functional socks from Free People will hit the mark with any fashionista in your life.
• I (personally) am addicted to the Pretty Polly over-the-knee-secret tights, they amp the style factor of any outfit!

The Paper Chaser

• For the girl who keeps it old school by actually writing down notes + ideas manually.
• Or the pretty professional who always has a biz card on hand.

The Beauty Addict

You might think getting your beauty-addicted bestie their favorite product would be a win but maybe go outside the box with this Kate Spade Mani/Pedi Folio.

Or this vintage-inspired solid perfume-slash-pin cushion chicness from Anthropologie.

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HOW TO CONTOUR & HIGHLIGHT

post + photography by amy nadine, graphic design by eunice chun

When you apply foundation to your entire face, you’ve created a blank canvas, so you have to go back and add the dimensions back in. Remember in art class how you used darker shading to push an area away and lighter shading to pull an area towards you? That’s all we’re doing here! It creates the illusion of a stronger jawline, more chiseled cheeks and a slimmer face. And the easiest way to do this is by drawing the letter E on each side of your face to contour and the letter C on each side of your eyes. Anyone can do that, right? I’m showing you how to do it with both cream and powder formulas together for staying power, but you can certainly do one or the other.
TOOLS:

• Cream Foundation or Cream Bronzer — you can simply find a cream foundation that is four or so shades darker than your foundation (I love Jouer Age-Repairing Perfector Foundation in Tawny for fair to medium skin tones or Almond for darker skin tones) or you can try Hourglass Illume, a cream bronzer + highlight duo that I’ve been using on my clients with fair to medium skin tones for at least three years now.
• A Flat-headed Foundation Brush — this really presses the cream into the skin and does all the work for you. I love Dior Full Coverage Fluid Brush for an investment but Sonia Kashuk Flat Top Multi-Purpose Brush will get the job done too.
• Blush/Contour Brush — the best brush to blend cream foundation or bronzer is a natural-bristled round-headed one that is densely packed like the Cozzette Contour Stylist Brush, the iconic must-have for makeup artists at Fashion Week around the world.
• Bronzing + Highlighting Powder — you can certainly buy them separately but I love Trish McEvoy Dual Resort Bronzer + Highlight because it’s the perfect amount of warmth with a hint of shimmer.
• Angled Contour Brush — I love Sigma’s Large Angled Contour Brush for its fluffy angled bristles.

STEPS:

1. After you’ve applied your foundation all over your face and neck but before any powder, dip your brush into the cream bronzer/darker foundation to load it up.
2. Swirl the brush on the back of your hand to take away some of the intensity.
3. Start at the middle of the top of your hairline and begin the letter E by tracing along the perimeter down to your temple.
4. Suck in your cheeks to see exactly where your cheekbones are then continue the middle prong of the letter E by sweeping the brush from your temple to just underneath the cheekbone (to hollow it out).
5. Go back along the underside of your cheekbone to the ear then down to your jawline. Finish the E by sweeping the brush just on and underneath the jawline. I like to also fill in the whole neck to really shade it, but I have profile issues and do anything I can to make mine more pronounced!
6. Repeat on the other side.
7. Now swirl off any remainder on a tissue or the back of your hand and use the same brush to fill up with the cream highlighter.
8. Draw the letter C by holding the brush in the middle of your forehead just above your brow and outlining the eye all the way to your temple then down under your eye just above your cheekbone. This will pull that area forward and really highlight your eyes.
9. Repeat on the other side.
10. Take the dry blush brush and go back over the E’s and C’s in swirling motions to really blend it into the skin. You could also use a Beauty Blender sponge to do this.
11. Finish by grabbing the angled contour brush and going over the E with the bronzing powder and the C with the highlighting powder.

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DAYTIME CONCEALER TRICK

Post + Photography by Amy Nadine, Graphic Design by Eunice Chun

We shared our tried and true concealer method with you a couple of months ago (revisit it here!). But in the daytime when you’re subjected to harsh sunlight, classroom or office lighting (the worst!), you have to go a little more undercover with your camouflage. No prob. Here’s the deal: when you apply concealer directly on your bottom lids or on the under-eye “bags” themselves, it’s more noticeable because that area is raised. But if you only conceal the area just below the bottom lid and bag, leaving them bare, you knock down enough of the heavy part of the darkness to brighten up your eyes without anyone seeing the makeup.

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A FINE FRENCHY

As many of you already know, Alison Sudol (AKA: A Fine Frenzy) is an incredibly talented musician with the voice of a SPARROW ANGEL! My favorite songbird beauty just released a new single from her upcoming album “Pines” called “Now is the Start”. It’s such a fun, happy song! Click here + listen! The photoshoot for this album was such a blast and was shot by our good friends Angela+Ithyle. Ali and I wanted to do something timeless with her hair– something that wouldn’t distract from all the pretty lights, stripes, and um- giant SAILBOAT!! Sometimes when there are a lot of fun things happening in a photo (or even with your outfit) you just want to keep it classic + simple, right? So that’s what we did. Luckily, our darling Alison was kind enought to pop by TBD and show us how to recreate this textured french twist on herself using a secret little tool… chopsticks. Here we go!

top photo by angelaandithyle.com tutorial photos/post/design: Kristin Ess

First things first, click play on “Now is the Start”. You should be listening to it as you do this updo!

1. Adding texture to the hair before you start is really important with this ‘do. My new obsession for texture is THIS stuff. It stays soft + pliable and doesn’t get salty/crusty like a lot of beach sprays can.
2. Tease the crown area of your hair.
3. Tease the left side of your part.
4. Tease the right side of your part.
5. Grab all of your hair in one hand and give a little tease to the middle and ends. Don’t be too neat. Personally I think this updo looks best when it’s a bit messy.
6. Join all of your ends together using a small clear elastic. You want to gather everything slightly to the side because when you go to roll it, it will end up in the middle of the back of your head.
7. Put the clear elastic between two chopsticks and squeeze.
8. Roll it up! If it doesn’t end up in the center, unroll it and try again!
9. Hold the updo against your head with the chopsticks while you put some pins in. We like large bobbypins for extra support. Updos like this can get quite heavy. Also, be sure not to pin the chopsticks! Otherwise you won’t be able to get them out.
10. Once you feel like everything is secure and in the right place, slide the chopsticks out.

Pull out some pieces around the front to soften this look. Give it a good spray with a strong holding hairspray.

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1950′s INSPIRED PONYTAIL

photos + post: Kristin Ess

Golly gee, we love very vintage-inspired ponytail. This is what I like to call the “Barbie Pony” when talking to a client. It’s got a part, a little volume + some soft bouncy curls. This particular version is a very wearable one. If you want to get a little more dramatic, you’re welcome to put as much volume and curl as you want! There are a LOT of steps in this tutorial, but that’s only because we wanted to be as detailed as possible. Alright, here we go…

1. Start with clean dry hair. If your hair isn’t perfectly clean, give it a little shot of dry shampoo! You can do a side part or a center part– which ever you feel is more flattering to your face shape.
2. Make a diagonal section starting at your part and going down in front of your ear.
3. You can see exactly where we parted here…
4. and here. Now clip the hair from the front section up and save that for later.
5. Give the hair a nice tease on top in your “crown area”.
6. Smooth over the teased hair using the finer side of the comb so it doesn’t appear too ratty. At this point you can give the top a little spray if you want to!
7. Now, put all the hair in the back into a nice, high, secure ponytail. It’s okay if you end up flattening out the teased bump a little bit because…
8. You can use a tail comb to pull it back up. As long as there’s teased hair under there, you can get that volume back.
9. Next we take out the front section. Take one side and drape it over the ponytail holder. Use a little spray to hold it in place if you need to.
10. Use small bobby pins to secure the pieces you’re wrapping around the ponytail holder.
11. Repeat the same thing on the other side. If hair falls out of this section or doesn’t reach, you can just let it fall and/or tuck it behind your ear.
12. Curl all of the hair in the ponytail. I like to curl everything in the same direction on each side so that you get a pattern going, but you can definitely make a more messy curl if you’d rather.
13. It’s completely up to you whether you brush the ponytail curls out or not. I personally like t0 brush them because the ponytail gets fuller and more bouncy.
14. Check the back using a hand mirror and make sure it looks balanced. Give it a final veil of strong holding hairspray.

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FINDING YOUR FACE SHAPE

post/design: Kristin Ess

There are so many face shapes in this world. It seems like every time I read a story about finding “the right haircut” there are only 4 (maybe 5) face shapes to choose from– but not everyone can be squeezed into those little boxes. Over the years, I’ve spoken with many people who have always thought they were one face shape (and followed the guides for that face shape) only to learn that their face was another shape entirely. Perfect example– one of my clients had  always thought she had a heart shaped face just because she had a pointed chin like Reese Witherspoon. The thing is, you can have the pointed chin of someone who has a heart-shaped face but if your hairline is more narrow, as my client’s was, you would fall more in the diamond family.
For today’s post, I’ve created a guide that should help you find your real face shape and in my next few posts, I’m going to be talking about what to do with each one. I really hope this helps and please keep in mind that it’s very common to fall into more than one face shape family!

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DARKENING YOUR EYEBROWS

This one is for all you gorgeous gals with brows lighter than your hair color. The lovely Hannah was so kind to let me borrow her brows to show you how this is done. Her hair is naturally brown but her brows are fine and blonde. I do this on a lot of my clients in the salon if their brows are lighter than their hair color– often times on a blonde who goes darker. But you can do this at home with a rich brown dye. I prefer to get something in the ashe family when doing brows because ashe combats warmth and keeps your brows from going too golden/red. I also prefer to use something with a lower volume since your goal is not to lift, but to deposit. Try a non-permanent dye like the ones that wash out in 28 washes. I find that regular dye gets too intense and looks a bit fake when darkening brows. These ones by Clairol will do the trick! By the way– this is not the same process as lightening eyebrows (which we’ll get to soon) so keep in mind these steps are only for darkening. Okay, here we go!

You always want to be incredibly careful when using dye near your eyes. If you’re not good with stuff like this, enlist a friend! Keep your eyes closed while the color processes just to be safe.

1. Start with clean dry brows. You don’t want to do this on brows that have been filled in with makeup because you won’t see the color change as well.
2. Using a spoolie (which you can buy at any beauty supply) or an old mascara wand that has been shampooed and dried, comb out your brows.
3. Apply color first to the inside half of the brow as you see Hannah doing above. I prefer doing this part first because I always find that it needs a little more time to process than the outsides. The hairs are usually thicker and more dense on the inside half.
4. Wait a minute or two and go over it one more time with a little more color to make sure you didn’t miss any little spots– the inside halves of the brow can be really dense!
5. Clean up the edges with a pointed q-tip. I use professional color remover, but you can also just use warm water. If you see any staining you can use SeaBreeze or any facial tonic to help remove the spot. But the whole reason you clean up as you go is to avoid staining. I would say you should give the insides 5-7 minutes to process before moving to the next step. You should see the color start changing/oxidizing.
6. Next, apply the color to the outer halves.
7. Clean up the edges again with a pointed q-tip and wait another 5-10 minutes. The color will probably appear darker than it really is and it can look a little scary. You can always remove a little dye with a q-tip to see where they’re at. If they’re not done, just put a little more color over that spot with your spoolie.
8. Once it’s to your desired shade, use a dark towel with warm water to remove the rest of the color. You shouldn’t have much staining since you cleaned up as you go.
9. Check your work in the mirror to make sure you didn’t miss any spots. If you did, just go back in and spot-treat it.

Good luck! Would love to hear your brow darkening experiences or any requests you have below. xo

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WHAT DOES EACH CURLING IRON DO?

There are so many sized curling irons on the shelves, so we’re going to start with the basics. Here are a list of irons, what they do and how you can use them for different looks!

The 2″ barrel iron (AKA “The Bumper”) isn’t intended for curl, but more for a nice rounded bend at the ends of your hair. This curling iron is best for those with long hair who want to make it look like they had a blowout. It’s a good way to fake that round-brushed look.

• A- Bend the ends of a voluminous updo. Tease and secure first, then hit the ends with this iron to give it some life.
• B- You can set these curls using a light-hold hairspray + large clips to get an even rounder, bouncier look.
• C- This iron is amazing for anyone with naturally straight hair (who wants to keep it straight), but gets bored with the pencil-straight look.
• D- Try curling and setting in different directions to show layers.

The 1 1/2 ” barrel is great for voluminous curls. We recommend setting the hair when using a 1 1/2″ barrel because big curls like this tend to fall quicker if you don’t.

• A- Spray a light holding hairspray all over your hair. On a medium to high setting, roll the curls from bottom to top. Once the hair heats up, slide the curling iron out and set it with a clip. Wait 10 min after you finish the whole head for the curls to cool + set. Take the clips out, brush and style! This will give you the the biggest, bounciest curl.
• B- If you have super-long hair, you can wrap curl with this iron. Sorry short to medium length girls, you can’t really get a good curl by wrapping the hair around this iron.
• C- Definitely a good iron for those of you sporting a heavy side part and wanting to pair it with soft, messy, big curls.
• D- Dry your hair using a little surf/sea salt spray. Once it’s dry, do one “spin” of the iron in the middle of the hair. Don’t curl the root and don’t curl the ends. Then take your blowdryer and rough it up a little.

This is a very popular iron. I would even say the most popular sized iron. You really can’t go wrong with a 1 1/4″ iron.

• A- Curl with this, leave out the ends and add a water-based pomade at the root for perfect messy waves.
• B- Set the hair using a 1 1/4″ barrel and a light setting spray. Clip the hair immediately after it comes out of the hot iron. Let it sit and cool for 20 minutes. Brush it out using a soft bristle brush.
• C- With NO product, curl the hair with this iron while leaving the ends out. Spray it after with this surf/sea salt spray. Roughly blowdry the whole head using your fingers only. You’ll get a very beachy wave.
• D- Set the hair the same as in photo B but then smooth your hair over to one side and secure using your favorite floral accessory.

The 1″ iron is a go to for anyone with medium or shorter length hair, or for that soft Veronica Lake-type wave.

• A- Set the whole head using your 1″ iron. Brush it out using a soft bristled brush. Use large duck bill clips to hold the wave pattern in place and make it even more dramatic.
• B- A 1″ iron was used here in this Very Veronica tutorial.
• C- Use a light setting spray to set your curls. Once they cool, smooth them out with a large paddle brush and add a floral headband.
• D- This was actually done with a 1″ curling iron that I took the clamp off of. You can see how to do that here. I used a light-holding mousse, blowdried the whole head, then wrap curled.

This is the most under-estimated iron on the block. I love this one! The curl from a 3/4″ iron is the BEST, particularly for vintage inspired hair + updos.

• A- Remove the clamp and wrap curl for this spring-y type of curl.
• B- Set the whole head using a setting spray. Once it’s cooled, brush it all out and re-coil a few pieces using your fingers. Gorgeous! Love that brushed out look.
• C- If you set the whole head using a 3/4 iron, let it cool for 20 min, then brush out using a soft bristle brush for 5 minutes, the curl will fall into this vintage-inspired pattern. Seems like the curls will come out much smaller but they actually widen up as you keep brushing. The up-side is that they don’t fall out very fast because they were tighter to begin with.
• D- Try curling most of your hair with a 3/4 iron the next time you’re doing a messy chignon. You can curl the piece in front with a 1″, but the 3/4″ iron gives great texture to a chignon.

If you have naturally curly hair (like SJP/Beyonce/Shakira curly), a 5/8′ iron is where it’s at. Not every curl on your head stays in place, so when one gets out of line it’s important to have this!

• A- Wrap curl any crazy stray pieces around a 5/8 iron to reduce the appearance of frizz.
• B- Sometimes we have curlier hair in one place than another. For example, I have serveral clients who have straight hair on top and curls on bottom. This is a great iron to bring those two textures together because it gives a very “naturally curly” sized curl. Try wrap curling and then pull lightly once you take it off the barrel.
• C- If you have super straight hair (and a lot of extra time on your hands) you can get this type of fun, springy curl with a 5/8″ iron.
• D- Oh Bey, what can I say– you probably wake up like that. Add a little heat-protectant serum to you hair before going in with a curling iron.

Every girl with tight curls should have a 3/8″ iron on hand. It’s my favorite iron for the curliest girls!

• A- No girl in her right kinky-curly mind would ever get this kind of curl from an iron– that’s natural beauty! But it’s good to have this iron on hand if a piece or two need a little taming.
• B- Again, if you have the time, you can curl your entire head with this iron and get this gorgeous curl. Set it using a heat-protective setting spray, then brush everything out at the end using a soft bristle brush.
• C- Same as above!
• D- If you have kinky curls and want to loosen some pieces up a little, this is a great iron for that!

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A CHIGNON FOR A FASCINATOR

photos/post/design: Kristin Ess

Fascinators are becoming more and more popular in the US. Many of our most fashionable friends are building small collections of gorgeous headpieces and that’s reason enough to do a tutorial on a hairstyle that will accomodate them. This is a fairly easy hairstyle to execute and doesn’t require a ton of coordination. In fact, that’s one of the things I love the most about fascinators- they look their best when paired with a simple hair style. Of course you’re not going to wear a fascinator to work, but it’s such a great addition to an outfit when attending any sort of formal party. Okay, here we go!

1. You’ll need a couple of larger bobby pins and a thin rubberband.
2. You’ll want a side part for this because the fascinator is going to sit on the side with less hair. Create a section from your ear up to the part as you see in photo 2. Clip all that hair out of the way and save it for the end.
3. On the side with less hair, twist everything back and over your ear.
4. Clip it in place using a claw clip.
5. Lightly tease the rest of your hair. You want to do this so that the bun you’re about to make will be a little fuller. If you have super thick hair you’re welcome to skip this step.
6. The hair shouldn’t be agressively teased. It should look like picture 6.
7. Remove the clip and keep twisting in an upward motion. Twist it right into a bun shape and secure using the thin rubberband. Go ahead and insert one of the large bobby pins for security.
8. Take the section you had clipped up out of the clip. Lightly twist that in an upward direction and wrap it around the bun. Secure it using your other large bobby pin. If you have thicker hair and you need more pins, go for it!
9. Once everthing is secured, lightly pull at the bun if you want to make it a little bigger. If you like the size of it, you can skip this step.
10. Spray all over using a firm holding hairspray.

Each fascinator is different. Some come with clips, some with headbands, some with combs, and some vintage ones come with nothing. Attach the fascinator on the side with less hair. I usually recommend attaching it just slightly below the part. You can obviously wear this chignon without a fascinator if you want. Would be great for bridesmaids or any special event for that matter!
Here are my favorite places to score gorgeous fascinators, other than the flea market.

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THE MINI FRENCH BRAID

Wait! Come back! Don’t be intimidated by this teeny tiny braid. It may look intricate and kind of difficult but if you can do a regular french braid, you can do this! It’s basically the same exact method as the french braid but you take tiny strands from around the face. We shot this in great detail, which is why there are so many steps, but it’s actually really easy and fast. Here we go…

photos + post: Kristin Ess

You’ll need a comb, a mini clear elastic (optional), a curling iron or wand, and a mirror where you can see the back of your head.

1. Separate a 1 or 1 1/2 inch section from the perimeter of your hairline, near your face. Do that on both sides.
2. Take the remaining hair and throw it temporarily into a clear elastic to get it out of the way.
3. Using your fingers, separate the hair just below any cowlicks you may have.
4. Pull out a small strand of hair. This is going to be your “anchor” piece, which is going to be hidden but will be where everything joins together.
5. Take a small strand from the left.
6. Take a small strand from the right.
7. With those 3 pieces, you start a classic french braid pattern.
8. Take a new piece from the left and join it in.
9. Take a new piece from the right and join that in.
10. Continue braiding as if it were a classic french braid. I used 4 strands from each side, but you can do as many as you’d like.
11. After you add in as many pieces as you want for the french braid part, finish it off with a regular braid.
12. Now you have a choice– you can either tease the hair or add a tiny clear elastic to hold the braid in place. If you have fine hair, the teasing will probably work just fine. If your hair is med to coarse, you will probably want to use a clear elastic.
13. Remove the original clear elastic that was holding the remainder of your hair.
14. Your hair should look like this.
15. If you want, take a curling iron or wand and put some wave into the ends. Here we used this wand by Tigi that I picked up at Ulta for about $30.

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ALL HAIR, ALL WEEK

photos/post/graphic design: Kristin Ess

The shorties have spoken! Here’s a tutorial for all the lobs + bobs out there. We HAD to hit up our favorite songstress Alison Sudol to be in this tutorial because she recently went shorter, and like many of you she mentioned that she has a hard time doing pretty updos. This one’s fairly simple if you know how to french braid. If you don’t, better click here and learn that first! If you do know how to french braid, grab some bobby pins + hairspray because here we go! 

1. Start with clean, dry hair.
2. Part your hair all the way around in a big horseshoe shape about 1- 1 1/2 inches above your ear. Clip that section up.
3. French braid both sides and get them to meet in the middle in the back of your head. Take both of the loose ends and make a teeny tiny bun. If you need hairspray to make the bun stay, give it a little shot and then bobby pin. It’s TOTALLY okay if it’s a bit messy. It’s going to get covered up anyway.
4. Let down all the hair from the section on top and take a bit of texturizing spray to it (we used THIS ONE which is a bit expensive, but you could also use THIS ONE which I also love!).
5. Tease the crown area for some volume and then smooth it over with your comb.
6. Give the top layer a light veil of hairspray.
7. Now start twisting the sides back as you see Ali doing in photo 7. Pin the twist to the braid as you go. NOTE: That’s the whole point of the braid! You’re using it to secure the hair! That’s the trick to getting short hair “up”, otherwise everything tends to fall out or not reach.
8. Repeat the same twist + pin method to the other side. Secure the twist by pinning it to the braid as you go.
9. Once both sections reach the back, roll those two “tails” you have left over from the twists. I prefer to roll upward, but you can roll sideways or down if you prefer. Just be sure to check your work in the mirror as you go. Look at it from the front, the back and the side to make sure it looks balanced! If you have a hard time rolling the leftover pieces (aka: if they’re too short) you can always just tuck them into the braid. If the hair is too soft, spray it a little with some hairspray. YOU CAN DO IT!
10. Once you’re done, give it a good veil of a strong-hold hairspray. You know my FAVORITE.

We’ll try and do more updos for short hair! We hear you + we know you want them! If you try this, please let us know how it went for you via instagram @thebeautydept! Good luck! xo

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Back in black&gold

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MY FAVOURITE BEAUTY SECRETS

Pictures by James Chardon

ALL ABOUT MAKE-UP Even though fashion is my main passion and obsession, I've always been quite fascinated by make-up products. I feel like a good make-up adds a special touch to any outfit and creates a perfect harmony. Whether it's playing with a bold brow, a nude lip, a smokey eye or a bright orange lip gloss, I feel like make-up brings so much personality to a look, and to me, putting make-up on in the morning is just like dressing up : it's a great way to pamper, get a little creative and learn how to hide your little flaws and accentuate what's most beautiful and special about you. So it's kind of a learning process all the time!

I must admit that in terms of make-up I am not the genious, but I know my make-up routine very well and I try to perfect it every single day by using better products or trying to make improvements in the way I put my make-up on, wether it's in the quantity I use or in the gestures I make to apply it. So it's really about the details. For a long time, I've been buying drug store cosmetics thinking that it didn't make a difference with luxury products and blaming the price tag. With time I learned to appreciate quality over quantity. I have a little selection of my absolute favourite products, that are not only good for my skin but also a pleasure to apply every morning. Here are some of them.

1. I use Météorites Perles ''Base Eclat Les Ors'' by Guerlain as a primer, it gives my face the perfect fresh glow 2. Because I have such pale skin, I need something to boost my natural sun kissed skin glow, for that I use Guerlain's Terracotta Skin's ''Healthy Glow Foundation Second-Skin effect'', it has a very natural texture which blends in perfectly with my skin, looking completely transparent yet adding the perfect shade or bronze. Remember that it won't hide imperfections 3. To hide little flaws, I'll use my all time favourite foundation, Guerlain's ''Parure Lumière''. It's honestly the best one I've found so far. I wear it in colour 02 Beige clair. It has a very light and creamy texture which gives a beautiful glow, making the whole make-up look very natural. In my opinion Guerlain has honestly the best skin beauty products out there, really worth trying! 

4. Only recently, I started to discover the hidden mysteries of contouring (I make it sound so mystic don't I). As I have a round shaped type of face, I like to use Too Faced's Chocolat Soleil Bronzer under my cheekbones in order to create that sexy shade and accentuate the impression of high cheekbones. I like this powder in particular because it's really more of a light brown/chocolate shade instead of an orangy bronze one like in most of the bronzers. So it really does look like a natural shade. + this powder really does taste like chocolate, I am absolutely not kidding

5. To finish my skin make-up, I like to add some Terra Ora ''Sculpting Powder, Contrast Highlighter'' by Guerlain on my checks to add a sunny glow as well as some highlight that will accentuate the contouring previously done. 6. For that I use my beloved limited edition Dior brush, I don't think it's in store anymore but you can always try to check with your local Dior beauty counter or get it throgh the link I posted above

7. I've always been a huge lover of Yves Saint Laurent's eye shadows, they have the most fabulous colours ever, with great colour pigments (you don't have to insinst too much on your eye to have a nice colour) which last the whole day. In this case I re-created my favourite bronze smokey using only 3 shades from their new Marrakesh Sunset Palette (summer collection). I'll use the lightest middle shade on my whole lid, then work the crease with the golden tone and finally finish the smokey with the dark brown.

8. Even though I am a big sucker for bright lipsticks, I recently got obsessed with nude shades and this one must honestly be my favourite one by far. It's the colour ''Crème De Nude'' by M.A.C and looks so natural yet shiny like a light non-sticky lip gloss, giving your lip that sexy yet natural pout. Plus it smells like fresh vanilla, simply fabulous.

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