BFR Blog
Winter Skin Practices to Combat Dry Skin
By Stephanie Milner Giles
So much of what we do and how we feel internally and externally is directly related to environment. During these winter months, it seems no matter where you reside or visit it’s difficult to escape some sort of cold snap. With that comes dry, itchy, sometimes flaky skin. How do you revive that smooth, soft, radiant glow your skin once had? Let’s talk about ingredients and do’s and don’ts.
Call me a crazy cat lady but the more natural the ingredients = the better. Yes, some natural ingredients have chemical names such as Vitamin E is TOCOPHERYLACETATE (or a version of). As a consumer, I try to educate myself on what’s super harmful and what’s super beneficial as ingredients are not regulated as strictly in the US as they are in, let’s say Europe.
As far as your skin, a few things to try to avoid: products containing alcohols, sulfates, petroleum, synthetic dyes and fragrances. Enjoy a long, hot shower with a harshly strong soap? Well your skin doesn’t. That hot water and harsh soap is striping natural oils and damaging the outer top layer of skin cells. So what can you do to lock in water, close the barrier and maximize moisture? Turn the water temp to lukewarm, use a more mild cleanser and within 3 minutes after towel drying apply a rich moisturizer, nourishing oil or both!
Ingredients to consider adding to your daily regime: hyaluronic, glycolic and lactic acids, shea or cocoa butters, essentials oils such as rose hip, jojoba, carrot seed, chamomile and ylanng yang to name a few. Don’t believe the hype that oils will make your skin more oily, in most cases it’s not true, they actually absorb into the skin more easily than some cream based moisturizers. Also, don’t be intimidated by products, I believe trial and error is the most effective way to find what works best for you and the health of your largest organ.
Holiday Party Looks From Day to Night
By Jada Mohammed
Holidays mean parties, and sometimes those parties have overlapping dates. Your dramatic Smokey Eye is cute for late night cocktails after work, but might be a little too much for the office lunch party planned on the same day. How can your makeup bag help you transform looks on the go, you ask? Boy, does Beauty For Real have some tips for you!
The Basics
Every look needs to have a foundation, pun intended. In order to achieve any level of glam, you need to start with the basics.
- MVP Tinted Moisturizer + Concealer
- HI-DEF Mascara
- A brow product of your choice
All of these first-step products will set you up for your glamorous look of choice.
Casual Glam
- Bronze + Glo
- Shadow STX: Midnight Marathon, Ever Starstruck
- Lip Gloss + Shine
- I-LINE Eyeliner: Whiskey, Chocolate Fix, Champagne Buzz, Black Magic
Slightly highlighting your features is perfect for showing off your inner makeup enthusiast without being overdressed for your casual event.
Star-Studded Glam
- Blush + Glo
- Shadow STX: Midnight Marathon, All Day Latte
- H20 Matte Liquid Lipstick: My Pleasure, Bring It
- I-LINE Eyeliner: Storm, In the Navy, 24 Karat, Jade, Platinium Blonde, Totally Titanium, Black Magic
Dark and bold colors will assist in highlighting your features while adding an extra diva factor to dress things up.
Everything you need to transform your look can fit right into your purse. You can switch your looks back and forth on the go with a makeup wipe and some Beauty For Real holiday magic.
Fall & Winter Skin Care Tips
Parabens: Why Are They So Bad For Women?
By Portia Enriquez
I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed an increase in the need and want of cosmetic products that are free of parabens. Back when I was in college, in 2006, I can't remember my girlfriends caring about the ingredients in our makeup as much as we do now. With the advanced technology and research that we are able to do these days, it isn’t a surprise to me that makeup lovers are educating themselves on how parabens can be harmful, especially to women.
If you don’t know what parabens are, they are preservatives that can be found in makeup and personal care products that assist in preventing the growth of harmful bacteria and mold. It's essentially an ingredient used to give products a longer shelf life. We don’t want our any of our makeup to get icky but studies show that exposure to parabens can have a negative effect on the estrogen that we produce in our bodies. How much is too much is still being studied. Parabens are xenoestrogens, which means they mimic oestrogens that we have in our bodies AND oestrogen has been linked to breast cancer and reproductive problems amongst women. It also is linked to the early onset of puberty and a low sperm count in men (so boys beware!). Oestrogen can stimulate some breast cancers to grow so this is something that we don’t want an abundance of in our system. So what do you care about more, your makeup staying mold and bacteria free or your health?
With October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, I want to challenge you to stay paraben-free this month! Take a look at the ingredients in your makeup, skincare, and personal care products and if you see any paraben ingredient in it put it aside for later use. Take a field trip to your favorite boutique, cosmetic, or convenience store and replace those products with paraben free ones! You might take a little longer in choosing the right ones, but remember that this is preventing you from exposure to harmful ingredients! You never know, you might end up finding yourself a new favorite product! Happy Shopping!
3 Ways to Recreate Fall’s Hottest Trend - Bold Eyes + Smooth Skin
It’s officially fall as of September 22nd and I couldn’t be more excited about it! For me, fall means cooler weather, warm cookies, and lots of new trends! Fall is when everyone breaks out their most fashionable pieces and struts their glowing skin down the street. One trend I’ve been seeing a lot lately from runway to magazine shoots to beauty gurus Instagram’s is a bold graphic eye look paired with fresh, glowing skin. This makeup combination creates a striking look that turns heads and has everyone wondering if you just stepped off the NYFW catwalk.
Unexpected graphic eye looks seem to be a huge trend in the fashion and beauty industries this season. New York and London Fashion Weeks gave us a plethora of new graphic eye looks to try out. I’ve gathered together a few of my favorite looks and decided to recreate them using Beauty For Real products. Let’s get our catwalk on…

- Apply MVP Tinted Moisturizer to the skin to perfect your complexion and smooth any pores or fine lines. Add a little extra using your clean fingers in any areas where more coverage is desired. Be sure to keep skin soft and smooth.
- Apply MVP Concealer under eyes and brow bone to brighten up the eye area. I find it best to apply a light amount and use your fingers to tap into the skin for a skin finish.
- Take Blush + Glo in “Coral Crush + Hi Beam” and apply the blush shade to cheekbones and apples of the cheeks for a light flush.
- To complete the eyes, take I-LINE 24/7 eyeliner in “Storm” and apply on the lids and smudge upwards with a brush. Be sure to do one eye at a time and blend quickly, once these liners set they do not budge or smudge. Do the same under the lashline and blend out to connect the top and bottom. If you want to stay true to the inspiration, skip mascara and go for a clear gloss on the lashes to keep them natural. If you’re anything like me though, you won’t skip mascara! Go for the Hi Def Mascara in “Just Black”, the small and hollow wand allows for a dramatic application (just check out that before and after below!!).
- Finish the look by using Lip Revival Scrub to prep lips for liner and lip cream. Apply D-FINE Lip Pencil to outline and fill in lips and top it off by tapping on our “Barely There” Lip Cream + Color.
Look 2 - Chloé SS18 Makeup by Aaron De Mey
- Repeat steps one and two above for complexion perfection.
- Take Blush + Glo in “In The Pink + Get Lit” and apply the blush shade to the apples of the cheeks. Apply the blush very lightly on the skin, almost so it looks like there is barely any product on the skin. Apply the highlight to the tops of the cheekbones, down the bridge of the nose, and above the cupid’s bow.
- To complete the eyes, take I-LINE 24/7 eyeliner in “Black Magic” and apply along the upper lashline and wing the end of the eyes to create a cat eye. Take a very small brush and lightly blend the edges of the liner to give it more shape but to also smudge the edges so as to not create a sharp line. Apply the Black Magic to the bottom lashline and waterline and smudge out to connect to the wing of the cat eye. Apply a light layer of Hi Def Mascara to complete.
- For the lips, keep them natural! Exfoliate them using the Lip Revival Scrub and lightly define the lips to even them out. That’s the complete look!
Look 3 - Beauty For Real Photoshoot Makeup by Leslie Munsell
Photo by George Kamper
- Start by again smoothing the skin using steps one and two from Look 1.
- Take Blush + Glo in “In The Pink + Get Lit” and apply the blush shade to the cheekbones and apples of the cheeks. Apply the highlight to the tops of the cheekbones, down the bridge of the nose, and above the cupid’s bow.
- Apply Bronze + Glo in “Cocoa Cabana” to the top of the forehead where sunlight naturally hits the face. Apply a light amount of Cocoa Cabana under the cheekbones to sculpt the face a bit.
- Time for eyes! Apply I-LINE 24/7 eyeliner in “Black Magic” to the outer V of the eye area. From the far corner of your eye, apply upwards towards to brow and connect with your natural crease. Line the crease moving towards the center of the eye and blend all line and product well. This should leave most of your lid available to apply “In The Navy” eyeliner and blend into the Black Magic. Apply the Black Magic to the bottom lashline and waterline and smudge out to connect to the wing, keep the lines sharp and clean with a cotton swab. To finish, take I-LINE in “Champagne Buzz” and apply to the inner corners of the eyes to brighten this bold eye. Finish the eyes by applying a major layer of Hi Def Mascara for added drama and volume.
- Finish the look by using Lip Revival Scrub to prep lips for liner and lip cream. Apply D-FINE Lip Pencil to outline and fill in lips and top it off by gliding on “Kiss Me” Lip Gloss + Shine.
I had a great time recreating each of these looks on myself and cannot wait to see yours. If you give these a try, be sure to tag us and use hashtag #ImForReal to give us permission to repost!
Xoxo, Lyss
The Revolution Behind Cruelty-Free Cosmetics
By Caitlyn Halliburton
It doesn't take much to figure out that human beings aren't the only living creatures on this planet. Stretch that notion a little further, and it becomes quite obvious we also aren't the only creatures to experience pain and suffering. That being said, why is it we have found it acceptable to test chemicals on animals?
The first documented instances of animal testing go back to the 19th century. While we aren't sure how long animal testing has actually been going on, it's safe to say it's been a while. Naturally, as the cosmetics industry is reliant upon the mixing and formulating of different chemicals, the industry quickly fell into the practice of testing on animals in the early 1900's.
Before understanding why animal testing is harmful and unnecessary, it's important to understand what this process entails. As you probably already know, there are many different ingredients that go into many different types of cosmetic products. Every single ingredient is tested for its reaction to living organisms in its purest form. Therefore, when companies test their products on animals, they aren't simply swiping some mascara onto a little bunny's eyelid, they're bathing it in stearic acid to see whether or not it kills, causes inflammation, makes hair fall out, or produces any other undesirable side effect.
What this means is animals used for cosmetic testing are suffering the effects of each and every chemical in its purest and most potent form, even if a product only has a minute trace of a chemical..
What good does it do to put an animal through such suffering if humans aren't going to get this kind of exposure to the different chemicals in our products?
Furthermore, humans and species used for animal testing have different biological makeups. If you're not familiar with how chemistry works, different biological makeups mean different chemical compositions. Different chemical compositions mean different reactions to foreign chemicals. Simply put, testing chemicals on animals doesn't sufficiently determine what kind of effect those chemicals will have on human beings.
What we learn from this is animal testing is not only cruel, it's also an inaccurate measure of a chemical's effect on human beings.
So how can we accurately determine a chemical's effect on human beings?
Well, lucky for us, scientists are pretty good at their jobs and have already advanced new ways of testing chemicals for human use. Currently, there are cost-effective methods cruelty-free brands use in lieu of animal testing: computer generated models and human cell-based tests.
Since scientists learned how to split and clone cells in the early 1900's (anybody ever read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks?), any kind of testing imaginable can be done with a 100% living human cell. Any chemical we think we want to put on our bodies for whatever reason can be tested accurately and relatively cheaply, considering our labs have a solid supply of human cells and can always get more if they need it.
Computer model testing is a fantastic feat in technology as it replicates a liver's reactions and chemical processes through complex algorithms. Basically, a computer is programmed with bodily functions to mimic a human's biological response to different chemicals. However cool this process is, it is also widely underused in chemical testing laboratories, which makes it's genius unresolved.
Both computer model and cell testing are humane forms of alternative testing that are proven to render more accurate results at a much lower cost than animal testing.
Fortunately, more and more countries realize this and are taking steps to ban this unreliable, cruel, and expensive practice. The United States has propositioned the Humane Cosmetics Act, which would prohibit animal testing on cosmetics. Despite legislation's slow action, many brands collaborate with humane societies in order to demonstrate their commitment to cruelty-free products.
Beauty For Real is one of those brands who have taken progressive steps in ensuring no animal goes harmed during the formation of our products. We have taken the necessary measures to become PETA approved as a sign of our dedication to a cruelty-free world. If you're ever wondering what products are officially cruelty-free, simply check the packaging for the little pink bunny logo.
Back to Beauty: Your Back to School Makeup Tips
by Jada Mohammed
If you're anything like me, you spent this summer bare-faced and free. In this crazy Miami heat, I just couldn't bring myself to paint my face with anything more than Beauty For Real's 24/7 Waterproof I-Line and HI-DEF Mascara.
Now that fall is rapidly approaching and those beloved summer nights are becoming a distant memory, it's time to start getting back into my usual makeup routine. I like to start my day off with a cleanser and some Lip Revival Sugar Scrub. My Beauty 360 cleanser gets rid of the dirt built up on my face overnight and my sugar scrub brings my chapped lips back to life.
Since classes start so early (ugh!), I dread the idea of a full face of caked-on foundation. Thankfully, MVP Perfect + Protect Tinted Moisturizer SPF 25 + Concealer has such a light presence that it feels as if I am not wearing any foundation. Although now that I think about it, that's probably because MVP isn't a foundation. The tinted moisturizer is so pigmented and perfectly matched to my face that sometimes I forget it's not actually a foundation. The concealer hidden in the cap is perfectly matched to my skin tone and it makes getting ready in the mornings so much faster. After filling in my brows (never too early to be fleeky), I like to apply some HI-DEF Mascara. The wand makes for speedy application since it has a plastic end instead of the regular bristled spool. This means that I don't have to continuously dip back into my mascara bottle since the plastic holds in more than enough product for me to use on both sets of lashes. I keep my mascara and MVP in my bag for any touch ups between classes.
If you couldn't already tell, I like to keep my daily makeup routine simple. However, as much as I like keeping things simple, sometimes simple just won't cut it. My friends and I are impulsive--very impulsive. That usually means going out after classes. I keep a few products in my bag in order to glam it up for a night out. My favorite I-Line, Storm, is perfect for a smoky eye on the go. The All Day Latte Shadow STX adds a pop of burgundy to my smoky eye and it matches virtually any outfit. A Bronze + Glo in Cocoa Cabana allows for a fast and easy contour/highlight combination. The last, and most important, thing I carry around is a Lip Cream + Color and D-Fine Lip Pencil for some late-night lip color. My favorite shade is Night Before, but I sometimes switch things up with a little Barely There.
This next tip can be our little secret. During the summer, I spent most of my time avoiding the outdoors. Netflix, my bed, and sweatpants are the only things I've interacted with on most days. I don't want the world to know this. Beauty For Real's (Total) Glo helps give off the illusion I've spent countless hours getting tanned under the summer sun. The body bronzer adds a sun-kissed glow to my already brown skin, and it spreads so easily that I barely need to use any product. The formula dries into my skin, so I don't have to worry about it smudging all over my textbooks like products from the past (yikes!).
With Jada's Beauty For Real Back To School Kit, you can have everything you need with the click of a button. The kit includes Lip Revival Sugar Scrub, MVP Tinted Moisturizer, Hi-Def Mascara, Storm 24/7 I-LINE, Bronze + Glo, and Barely There Lip Cream + Color. Find it here.
How To Improve Your Skin through Health and Fitness
Written by Guest Beauty Blogger Julia Salvia, @BeautyByJulia
Here at Beauty For Real we believe your health and fitness are key to having flawless makeup. What you put into your body is even more important than what you put on it. Everyone always asks how to achieve a smooth, flawless makeup application and the secret is simple! Take care of your body! Drink lots of water, eat your fruits and veggies, and at the very least do a little cardio for 30 minutes a few times a week. We asked our fitness-loving beauty blogger Julia Salvia, @BeautyByJulia aka the #GLITTAHQUEEN, to give us some advice on how our health affects our beauty routines. Julia started her beauty YouTube channel about 4 years ago and has grown her makeup community into a tight knit family. What we love most about Julia is her personality; her fun, bubbly attitude shines through in all her videos and you can’t help but feel like one of her close besties while watching. She is on a fitness journey to get healthier and eat cleaner, so who better to give you advice than your fun, internet bestie! Without further ado, we’ll let Julia take it from here….
What type of diet is good for my oily skin?
For good skin all around, whether you have oily, combination, or dry, I love to make sure I’m getting the right nutrients into my body. I drink green tea every morning, make sure I’m eating healthy fats like olive oil, walnuts, and fish but most importantly, I always drink a lot of water.
*The CDC recommends women drink about 73 ounces of water and men drink about 100 ounces of water daily. Water helps to hydrate and plump your skin while also flushing out toxins in the body.
What kind of foods should I be eating if I have dry skin?
I truly don’t believe that there is a difference in what you put into your body depending on your skin type. For both types, you want to drink a lot of water. This keeps skin plump and healthy and is, of course, also great for your body.
*If you are very dry, try eating fruits and veggies with high concentrations of water in them like cucumbers or celery. These will add water to your precious body in addition to the 73/100 ounces you should already be consuming.
How can exercise affect my skin?
Exercise is great for your skin! It increases blood flow and circulation which allows oxygen to move throughout the body not only leaving you healthy on the inside, but keeping skin healthy and vibrant on the outside.
Are there certain types of workouts I could be doing to prevent breakouts?
Whatever works for you! There are so many different ways to work out and break a sweat. Exercise helps to stimulate blood flow which helps move waste and toxins out of the body.
Does sweat cause more breakouts?
Depends. Sweating itself does not cause breakouts, but if you don’t shower right after the gym, sweat can sometimes clog pores causing breakouts or congestion within the skin.
*Exercise can open up the pores allowing oils and toxins to escape the body but if you don’t clean your face afterwards you can end up trapping these toxins and oil in your skin. Skincare is very important for those who sweat, check out Portia's blog on skincare and fitness.
Additional Tips & Tricks:
Breakouts are mainly caused by your hormones. For me, I never realized why I broke out, but then my dermatologist told me that stress is a key factor and directly affects our hormones. I personally try my best to find ways to relax throughout the day or at the very least once a week- watch a movie, take a bath, read a book, get a massage or pedicure, etc.
Properly cleaning our faces is also an extremely important step in keeping our skin healthy. I have 3 steps to cleaning makeup off of my face:
- Using an oil-based makeup remover to breakdown the makeup then wiping it off with a makeup wipe.
- Cleansing my face with any cleanser and exfoliating once a week.
- This last step is super important because it gets all that leftover makeup and dirt off that you can’t see: using a toner/astringent/witch hazel. This has been around for years and years and is basically a cleansing water. Some are stronger than others; use whichever is best for your skin.
For more on healthy lifestyle eating, check out one of my latest videos. Thank you guys so much for reading...now get out there and get active!
Xoxo,
Julia
Follow Julia on Instagram @BeautyByJulia and use code BEAUTYBYJULIA for 20% Off
The Two-Toned Eye Trend Everybody Loves
By Caitlyn Halliburton
We all love our original go-to eye looks, like the ever-elegant smoky eye or just a simple top and bottom line with your favorite black or brown eyeliner, but sometimes we just need to change it up.
Thankfully, there are no limits when it comes to eyeliner.
Try the hottest eye trend to spice up your makeup routine: the two-toned eye.
With this fun look, you don't have to decide between your favorite bold eyeliner and those easygoing neutral shades, you can just use both (who doesn't love Beauty For Real's In The Navy and 24 Karat 24/7 Waterproof I-Lines?).
So here's the concept:
- Pick two shades of eyeliner
- Apply one shade to the top lid
- Apply one shade on the bottom
At this very moment, I'm rocking BFR's Jade on my waterline and Champagne Buzz on my top lid. I'm not big into bold colors on my eyes, so I like this look because the Jade isn't overdone.
You don't always have to choose a bold shade and a neutral, though. If you work in a conservative setting, it might not be a good idea to go to work with blue eyeliner. But that's the great thing about this trend: it works with classic colors, too.
For a day at the office, when you just want to spice things up a bit, go for a light shade on bottom and a darker shade on top (or vice versa...this is all about making a trend your own!). Try shades like Beauty For Real's Whiskey I-Line and Champagne Buzz. The contrast in shades will give your eyes an added pop while still looking professional.
Ok, this sounds cool, but why is it so hot?
Using two-tones on your eyes give those beautiful windows to the soul an extra pop. Refer to the color wheel to help you out. The color wheel displays colors with their contrasting shades on the opposite side of the wheel. This shows you which colors make other colors pop well, particularly with your eye color and your eyeliner shade.
What are some other ways I can style this trend?
Try it with the upside-down eye trend.
The two-toned eye trend goes hand-in-hand with the upside-down eye trend. This is when the liner on the bottom is thick, like you would typically do on the top lid, and the liner on top is either nonexistent or very thin.
Play up the look by using the bolder shade on bottom and filling it in below your waterline. Then, using the lighter shade, draw a thin line on your top lid and voila! You're ready for a ladies' night.
Feeling extra creative?
Draw a winged eye either on top or bottom (back to the upside-down eye look).
This look is perfect for a night out, and with Beauty For Real's 24/7 I-Lines, you won't have to worry about your liner smudging away on the dance floor.
The two-toned eye trend is perfect for some pizzazz in your makeup routine. Pair the look with your favorite lip cream or lip gloss (I matched my Jade and 24 Karat combo with BFR's Lip Cream + Color in TropiCoral) and you're ready to go!
Behind the Scenes: Beholding Beauty During Miami Swim Week
by Beauty For Real Founder, Leslie Munsell
I saw this quote some time ago and loved it so much I put it up on my inspo board at my office - “Although beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, the feeling of being beautiful exists solely in the mind of the beheld.” Martha Beck
To me, this means that it doesn’t matter how beautiful you look to others - you may look like the most beautiful woman at the party, let’s go all in and say you look like Giselle Bundchen. Can you imagine it? Everyone goes crazy over you but you’re the only one who knows what looking that gorgeous truly feels like. If you don’t feel and believe you’re beautiful, looking like that doesn’t mean anything.
After spending the weekend with hundreds of gorgeous swimsuit models in town for Miami Swim Week, this quote really rang true. Beauty For Real sponsored and did make up for five shows and had several pop ups all over town. It was a crazy-busy, fun-filled four days.
I can’t think of any situation where I’d need more confidence in the way I looked than walking on a raised platform in a teeny bikini with incredibly intense lights, a pack of photographers and videographers shooting pictures of me, and hundreds of critical people watching. Yikes! Sounds like a nightmare, doesn’t it? But the best models put on their game face and absolutely kill it on the runway. They may not be what we think of when we think of beautiful, but there is a certainty about them. They strut with incredible confidence and embody whatever vision of beauty the designer has for the brand.
After spending 30 years as a make up artist and doing a million shows, I’ve seen a lot of models during the pre-game warm up. They all have different levels of confidence coming in, and the really experienced girls usually come in calm, cool and ready to go. The inexperienced, new girls are a bit on edge, excited but anxious to get the whole thing over with.
I compare fashion shows to hosting and cooking for Thanksgiving - you spend months planning, days preparing and the whole thing is over in ten minutes. This is how it must be for a model - they’re bodies are in top form (months of workouts), most fly in, casting and rehearsals are days in advance, they come hours early for hair and make up and the whole show lasts ten minutes. It is an amazing ten minutes though!
Before the show, the backstage area is a chaotic, intense madhouse. Usually there’s never enough space to work well and never enough time. Girls running in late from another show means hair and make up have to be done in record speed. This is where a great team performing well together is a must. The makeup artist’s role is crucial as we spend the most time face-to-face, one-on-one with the girls before they go on. They must look and feel beautiful and super confident to go out there and really work it. They’ve got to believe it. We make up artists must do our part to get them there, not only in applying gorgeous make up, but also by confirming what they hopefully already know and believe- that they look beautiful and are psyched to go out there and show it.
This is so important in all of the work we do as make up artists and something I talk about constantly. It’s not only about how you make someone look, it’s also about how you make them feel. I feel privileged to work in a field that gives this opportunity. To be able to spend time with someone, to touch them in a way that really affects them is incredible. It’s so great to have the knowledge and skill to apply the best look on someone, give them great skin, flawless foundation and concealer, perfectly applied eyeliner and eye shadow, blush, highlighter and contour to die for and the best lips possible, but if you don’t make them feel it, then you haven’t done your job. If they feel beautiful, they are beautiful.
Real Life of a Model: Behind the Scenes with Louisa
Many of you may recognize Louisa Raske. She's posed so many times for us at Beauty For Real that we like to refer to her as our “In House Model.” There's no one better to represent us as she truly is a real beauty inside and out. Read what she has to say about her model life.
Thanks Louisa! xxoo, Leslie
Feeling confident, beautiful and sexy are obvious assets you want to bring on set with you. I'm going on twenty years now as a model so I am no stranger to being in front of the camera. But I am also no stranger to feeling the lack of confidence, beauty or sexiness. Hey! Models are human too! The makeup artist is probably who you end up spending the majority of the day with from start to finish. Last thing you want is to butt heads with the person in charge of transforming you! But it happens. What’s great about working with Leslie is she usually asks if me if I like the makeup or look she’s going for. In the end, she wants you to feel as beautiful as you look!I have been fortunate to shoot with Leslie for Beauty For Real a handful of times now. We first met on a job in the Dominican Republic four years ago where we bonded over our love for horses and our goofy personalities. One of my favorite personality traits that tells me “This person and I will get along,” is to not take yourself too serious. Leslie has the ability to have fun and make the most of whatever situation in which she is shooting. This can be a talent within itself, because contrary to popular belief, photoshoots are generally far from glamorous. That particular little personality trait that I appreciate so much produces more than just friendship gaining qualities.
I keep my ear to the ground in hopes of a BFR shoot on the horizon. I make out pretty well in the product department at the end of the day, so that is always a plus! My bathroom mimics their showroom and I love it! Shoot days with Beauty For Real always end up being one big social event that yields beautiful pictures. It can get hectic but we’re all equipped with hectic coping capabilities. My most recent shoot was for the Home Shopping Network (HSN). The other girls who are a part of the shoot who represent the various shades and skin tones are all great friends and have also been modeling for twenty years more or less. I think George Kamper, the photographer, might need a gaggle of girls detox after a full day of all of us. Come to think of it, I don’t feel too bad for him having to stare at beautiful girls all day!
Depending on what products Leslie needs to shoot that day, we usually do a before and after. Yup, that’s what I said…BEFORE! No makeup. No photoshop. Nada! And I will repeat: Models are humans too! While I question my career choice as the images pop up on the monitor, I know I will spring back to life momentarily. Remember that whole confidence and feeling as beautiful as you look? Well, this is where the makeup artist skills kick in. It doesn’t take much. I'm not talking full Kardashian contour and smokey eyes. Who has the time or patience or lets face it, the skill set to do all that…I know I don’t.
Leslie has been using her MVP Perfect+Protect Tinted Moisturizer and Concealer on me since the beginning of its existence. She had it in little sample tubes for a while trying to perfect and test it out. I loved it from the get go! If she didn’t know it would have been me, I would have “dropped” it in my bag. It seemed like forever but I finally got my own right before they launched it. I had it for three days and another makeup artist friend of mine “dropped” it in her bag so Leslie replaced it. I made the mistake of showing my mom over Father’s Day and once again I was left empty handed.
Once Leslie covers some sun spots (hard to avoid being active and living in Miami), adds a little mascara and straightens out my eyebrows, I am joyfully off to shoot the after shot! Feeling like a Stella, I got my groove back! Because it is focused on the makeup, the shot is typically from the neck up, so not too much goes into clothing. Leslie can be seen bouncing from one girl to the next doing touch ups rattling off all the different shades like a Sherwin Williams paint chip. When we all finish our single shots, all the girls pile in for a group shot. I always love these. Who wouldn’t appreciate a photo of their friends all from diverse backgrounds and looking beautiful in one shot?
It is always a long day but never long enough! I'm sure Leslie wishes there were a few extra hours crammed in there, but we get what she needs. Giggling and being silly, we all scurry on our way with new products to add to my in home showroom. Once the pictures are chosen and edited, she sends them to us to use for our book or social media. George does great lighting, which is not as easy as it seems, and the makeup is perfect. With the BFR shots we do, I'm never lost in the makeup. It’s there and you see it but it is just enough to bring out what I already have.
I can mark off another day with BFR for the books and soon the quirky boomerangs and behind the scenes candids pop up on our Instagrams. Being friends with Leslie, I know there are more products on the horizon and more photoshoots to come. In the mean time, I am sure we will work on other projects together outside of Beauty For Real, possibly on some Caribbean island or maybe Mexico. What ever it may be it is guaranteed to involve wise cracks, laughter and beautiful makeup.