Hello All You Beautiful People,

My wonderful (and stunningly beautiful) friend Julia Sheasgreen is a fashion model who has spent the last year modeling in exotic locations all around the world including China and London. Julia reports to us this month from Cape Town, South Africa where summer is just beginning (allow for a collective jealous sigh.)

Enjoy!

Tell us a little bit about your job in the beauty industry? What are your experiences with getting your makeup done as a model?

Getting my make up done before a job is fantastic. I usually watch what the makeup artist does in silence, observing his/her technique. It’s really amazing meeting so many talented and lovely MUAs. About a year ago I lost the bulk of my beauty collection flying home from Shanghai. After relaying my sob story a couple of times a wonderful makeup artist Vanessa Jarman gave me a couple of brushes and the best mascara on the market (Dior Show, duh!).

What are the ups and downs (beauty-wise) of being a model?

The best beauty perk of the job is when the makeup has managed to last throughout the shoot and I can take it out at night, especially if they let me keep their false eyelashes!

The worst part is when the hair/makeup up is a little too…imaginative for the real world, and impossible to get off! (i.e. Painted white hair…thanks team.)

What is your every day beauty routine?

Oooh it changes every single day! I’m not very obedient to the number one beauty rule. I bought a face moisturizer last week to “be good” and it turns out it has shimmer in it! I’m sorry, but you canNOT put glitter in your product and not warn anyone. Anyway, there are a few constants in my routine: Benefit’s Erase Paste for my night-owl tendencies, mascara, some sort of colour on my cheeks to make me a little less NC15 white…and usually I’ll make myself time to do more because I love it!

What is your beauty product obsession? (a.k.a. your desert island product)

Yeah phew, whenever I read that question in magazines I try to think what on earth my answer would be.  I think I’d choose a dark grey liner (MAC Eye Khol in Phonenumber) because there are a lot of diverse looks to create with it. And maybe a nice lip/cheek colour duo (perhaps MAC crème blush in Uncommon).  Basically products that aren’t limiting, I want to have fun with it.

Best Beauty Tip?

Make it clean and even. You can still go dramatic, but there’s nothing fabulous about a crooked smokey eye and joker-style lipstick.

Most Regrettable beauty moment?

For years, trotting around with some sort of shimmery-without-telling-you product on my face while thinking I looked natural.

You are currently living and working as a model in South Africa, any beauty tips and or trends from Cape Town for us?

Natural makeup is all the rage here. I met a model today who wasn’t wearing any eye make up but had a rad colour on her cheeks- it was stunning. You don’t NEED to put make up on every feature. I don’t wear foundation, which is a very good one to skip if you don’t need it.

Anything else you want to tell us?

I have a MAC obsession, this isn’t MAC product placement, it’s just really really great!

Thanks so much Julia for being our first Experte de la Beauté! We all miss you back in Canada and wish you luck in South Africa!

xx Lauren

Julia Relaxing on the Beach in South Africa

And some modelling shots from her portfolio

Hello All You Beautiful People,

Not sure what your skin type is? Check out this quick self test from my favourite makeup book The Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual.

xoxo

Look at your own, clean, unmoisturized skin in the mirror. Is the overall texture flaky (dry), shiny (oily), or smooth (normal)?

How does your skin feel after you wash it with your current cleansing regimen? Tightness through the forehead is an indication of dry skin.

How does your skin normally look by midday? Is there oil breakthrough or dryness even though you have moisturized?

What lifestyle factors are influencing your skin’s current condition: stress? Hormonal fluctuations? Sun exposure? Diet?

Does your skin have noticeable sun damage? How are your protecting yourself against the sun?

Image courtesy of amazon.ca

xx Lauren

Hello Beautiful People,

Whenever I tell people that I am a makeup artist, one of the first things they ask me is for my best “beauty tip.” Well, because I love you all so much I will be providing you with some of my favourites right here on La Mode Au Naturelle, and here is one of my top tips. If you want to look like you just left the makeup artist’s chair, then you better be investing in some good makeup brushes. Now I know that these little tools don’t come cheap (believe me I know!) but you don’t necessarily need to buy the entire brush line from your favourite cosmetics brand. A few key tools will help you create most of the looks you would see on this site. My personal essentials include a big fluffy face brush for powder and bronzer, a big blending “fluffy” brush for your eyes, a firmer shadow brush, a small angled liner brush and the little disposable mascara applicators that you see at all makeup stations. These are my basic “musts.” Once you have these brushes in your personal kit you are set to create any glowing, smoky, natural or crazy night out look with perfectly separated, never clumpy lashes.

While it is not necessary to buy the most expensive professional brushes out there, it is important to buy good quality brushes. If you splurge a little on the brush now, it won’t fall apart later (or even right after you buy it,) there will be less chance of it irritating your skin and you will be surprised how long it will last you with proper care. I bought my first brushes at the tender age of 13 and 7 years later they’re still as good as new.

How to care for your brushes:

I like to keep my brushes in a little cup by my makeup station or in a travel brush pouch when I am traveling. Make sure you are keeping them in a place that won’t smoosh them (a technical term) or allow them to get dirty (like at the back of your makeup drawer with the dust bunnies.) It is also important to wash your brushes. This comes as a surprise to most people, but remember that good quality brushes need the dirt, oil and makeup to be cleaned from them regularly. You can spend the extra dough on a good quality makeup brush shampoo, or run to the closest drug store and get a gentle baby shampoo. Wet the brushes, put some shampoo in your hand or on a paper towel and gently twirl the brush around (not too much pressure please!) Rinse thoroughly and then lay the brushes flat on a towel to dry over night. You’ll be surprised when some of the brown brushes turn out white! This will also keep the brushes from smelling (not pleasant.) If you do this whenever you remember (I try to do it about once a month,) you will keep your treasured brushes as good as new for a long time. Completely justifies the cost, right?

xx Lauren

Hello Beautiful People,

Although I call Toronto home, I have spent the majority of my summer across the pond in England, while there I stocked up on every issue of every British magazine that I could get my hands on so I could bring you the latest beauty trends from the UK. I called in our trusty fashion blogger Hallae to be my model and guinea pig for a photoshoot today with makeup all done by yours truly. I am posting the photos now but the details of the looks and the photoshoot will have to wait until tomorrow because I am still suffering from the 5 hour time difference (I got back to Canada only a few days ago and spent most of last night rubbing shoulders with celebs- read Hallae’s account of our night out over on the main page.)

Until then, enjoy the photos!

xx Lauren

Alright, so as promised here are the details of the looks!

Our first look is a toned down version of some of the most popular runway looks from London Fall Fashion Week. Many of the fall runways showcased “au naturelle” faces, making sure the models walked the catwalk with perfect, even skin paired with extreme contouring. For a more wearable look we used a light foundation and powder to even out Hallae’s already enviously perfect skin and then used Benefit’s Hoola Bronzer to create a more subtle version of the contoured look. Topped off with a highlighter along the top of her cheekbones and Hallae was ready to conquer the day (which entailed snuggling on the couch with a cosy blanket.)

Look #2 takes inspiration from the ladylike looks of the 40’s that are quickly becoming the fashion world’s hottest muse. Building on the previous look, we added a quick swipe of black liner to the top lash line only plus loads of mascara to give Hallae’s eyes that sexy, come hither (but please don’t) look while the lips were painted a sexy scarlett. I used a darker red lip liner before to both outline and fill in the lips before painting on a red cream lipstick to create a vintage look that is oh so wearable today dahlings.

Tapping into Hallae’s “wild side” we decided to reference the rebirth of 80s fashion as well as the London punk scene with a look that is a little more edgy but still easy to wear for a night out. Not a makeup artist? Not to worry this look was easy to do with the help of a thin angled liner brush and a deep blue gel liner from British makeup line Barry M Cosmetics (hint: L’Oreal makes a great one as well that can be bought at Shopper’s.)

Our final look was inspired by Emma Watson (aka Hermione Granger)  in the new Burberry ads that have been popping up all over London (literally, the girl covers the entire outside of the Knighstbridge store.) We even added in my favourite new Burberry snood for authenticity. This look is one of the most dramatic but suprisingly also one of the easiest to create. Use one big, creamy, black eye pencil, line the entire outside of the eye, smudge, smudge, smudge, repeat. Then use another black waterproof eye pencil to line the inside of the lower and upper lashlines (tricky to do, but one of my favourite lash line thickening tricks.) Of course, finish with loads of mascara!

xx Lauren

Hello All You Beautiful People,

As promised, I have joined forces with my husband/housemate/partner in all mischief to bring you a new kind of style blog. Instead of seeing models with mohawks and black lipstick (but hey if you can pull that off then more power to ya!) we want to write about the amazing looks that our stylish friends put together and beauty trends that you can actually wear. This is where I come in. But let me formally introduce myself to you! I am a 20 year old university student currently splitting my time between Kingston, ON and Toronto. My makeup obsession began somewhere around the age of 3 with my mothers red Chanel lipsticks and has evolved over the years from disastrous first attempts at eyeshadow application, to electric blue eyeliner and matching mascara. My addiction has taken me through body glitter, stage makeup, a very brief “punk” stage and finally to makeup school last summer. I write to you now as a professional make-up artist, personally trained by Victoria Radford and a freelance artist for Yves St Laurent Beaute at Holt Renfrew.

I have been asked by Hallae to contribute to La Mode Au Naturelle as the site’s beauty expert and will be bringing you trend reports, beauty tips, product reviews and other odds and ends about all things bright and beautiful.

Enjoy!

xx Lauren