Beauty Of Dating With Makeup Artist Ikram Guebenlian

Whether you are falling in love, virtual dating, or simply putting yourself out there–we all want to look and feel our best. In my opinion, artfully done makeup is essential for a photoshoot or that first date. Today's guest is Makeup Artist Ikram Guebenlian. She teaches us how to be camera-ready, dressed up, and ready to glow! From skincare to dramatic cheekbone highlights–Ikram will be sharing her beauty secrets. If it's that fresh-faced look you're after, eye-catching glamor, or something more refined–Ikram is your beauty guru! 

 Photographer Kerry Brett and Makeup Artist Ikram Guebenlian discuss all things beauty and how people truly feel about themselves. This year hasn't been pretty, but it's time to focus on something beautiful. 

 Ikram Guebenlian is a beauty industry treasure, the best in the business, and invaluable to me. Ikram and I have worked together professionally, and as a team, we bring out the best in each other and our clients. This week's episode, we dive into a conversation around beauty products, beauty brands, and essentials.

Ikram and Kerry cover a lot of ground and topics include:
How to push yourself out of your comfort zone.
Lose that corporate look and add in some fun.
Why people have a hard time making themselves a priority.
Not believing in yourself can hurt your odds in dating.
Changes and challenges in the beauty industry due to COVID-19.
The importance of keeping up with your skincare routine.
People feel desperate to look good.
Tips for maximum results.
Ikram's favorite hydrating serum.
What to do when the going gets rough.
Always be yourself, enhance your beauty but don't try to be someone else.
You want someone to see your eye color, not your makeup. If you overdo it, it's not you–if you are trying too hard, it will show.
Believe in yourself. Remind yourself that you are a triple threat. You have it all. Everything you need is inside, not found in a makeup bag.

There is a quick-fire round at the end of the episode where Ikram shares her best beauty products and advice.

For more information about Beauty Stylist and Makeup Artist Ikram Guebenlian follow on Instagram @ikramgeben. 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

I'm Carrie Brett, and this is shot at love. Whether you're falling in love, virtual dating, or simply putting yourself out there, we all want to look and feel our best. In my opinion, artfully done makeup is essential for a photo shoot or that first day today's guest is makeup artist[inaudible] and she will teach us how to become camera ready, dressed up and ready to glow from skincare to dramatic cheekbone highlights, eco we'll be sharing her beauty secrets. If it's that fresh face, look you're after eye catching glamour or something more refined EEPROM is your beauty Hoover. Today we will discuss all things beauty and how we truly feel about ourselves this year. Hasn't been pretty, but it's time to focus on something beautiful. You won't want to miss it. So stay tuned from[inaudible] is a beauty industry, treasure the best in the business and invaluable to me. E-com and I have worked together professionally and as a team, we bring out the best in each other and our clients. I'm grateful to have you in my corner and honored to call you my friend eco and welcome to the podcast. Thanks so much for being here. Hi,

Speaker 2: 1:17

Thank you so much for having me excited to be with you today.

Speaker 1: 1:20

This is great. So before we dive into a conversation around beauty products, beauty brands and essentials, I want to talk about how you got started in the beauty industry. And so let's start at the beginning. You were born and raised in France, the country of love. And this was news for me, because for years, I just told people that you were from Russia.

Speaker 2: 1:46

Did I just make this off?

Speaker 1: 1:50

But I also gave you a Boston spin on your name, eco from which I called you.[inaudible], which was definitely like a Boston slang way of saying your name. And it was our, our good friend Linda holiday, who used to go with inner Southern accent. We used to

Speaker 2: 2:06

Carrie it's like, he can say the word

Speaker 1: 2:09

And I used to cry laughing. I'd be like, Oh my God, not only can I not pronounce her last name? I can't pronounce her first name. And I've made up the fact that you're from Russia. So you're not from here.

Speaker 2: 2:19

Nope. It's okay. I can be. You just went with it. I go with a lot of things, I guess. So,

Speaker 1: 2:29

So you met your American husband in France and after a long distance relationship, you decided to leave France and moved to Boston and having a career as a successful makeup artist was never in the original plan. When you were in France, you went to law school, but when you arrived in Boston, you decided to ditch law for makeup. And I think that seems like the perfect trajectory, like, you know, who does that other than you, but it is true that you were always the girl who loved makeup.

Speaker 2: 2:57

I did actually love makeup. I was, the girl never wore makeup, but sold it to all her friends. Wow.

Speaker 1: 3:02

Yeah. I mean, you have the most gorgeous skin, the imaginable and you are so beautiful and you don't need it. Um, no, you are stunning, but yeah. What, what was the, the love or the driving force to be so passionate about makeup?

Speaker 2: 3:21

Honestly, it was a job that turned to a real thing. My son was six months old, was walking in the mall, walking by the makeup department. I said, you know what, I'm going to get a job here. Joe came with me. I asked for the store manager, they had the director of cosmetic there that day. She was like, yeah, I can interview you. I said, I have my son with me. He's six months when he cry. I have to take care of him. She's like, go ahead.

Speaker 1: 3:47

Wow. Yeah. So, so you basically get hired at Lord and Taylor with no experience and no trainings, you know, and you know, you're definitely very good at telling people what you want. And from Lauren Taylor, you Rose through the ranks and then you were hired at Nordstrom's where they created a brand new position for you as a beauty stylist for the store. What exactly is a beauty stylist?

Speaker 2: 4:11

So a beauty side is like a personal stylist for clots. You go to someone, they help you pick what you need, what will suit you, your size colors. That's the same thing with beauty stylists. They book clients for you and you have to tell them what they need, what they not sometimes what we wanted, what we needed to do different things

Speaker 1: 4:32

For the past 10 years, you worked as a regional artist for NARS cosmetics. Part of your job at NARS is that you work for many stores that carry NARS. One of the stores is blue. Mercury. Could you tell the story of how you met our mutual friend Linda holiday? And I'm so grateful to Linda for bringing us together before you tell the story. I just want to inform the listeners who are listening worldwide, who Linda holiday is. So Linda is bill Belichick's, longtime partner, and together they are a winning combination. Bill Bellacheck is the coach of the new England Patriots and the greatest coach of all time. And Linda services, the CEO for the bill bell foundation. And not only is she beautiful, but she's super smart. Well, Linda was working in radiology sales report 10 years. She was highly successful in a man's field. And I love that. I love that about her. And she managed a sales team of 15 men. And I would have loved to see her boss, these 15 men around that would have just been the best. But during that time, her good friend, Shelley was miss Arkansas of America and asked Linda to give pageantry a whirl. She was first runner up for miss Arkansas and Ms. Little rock. And she even got to meet Hillary Clinton, who was the Senator of Arkansas. So given this background and pageantry, Linda certainly knows how to style herself and she does her own hair and she knows exactly what she wants, but she's always open to our ideas. I like what you say about Linda, that she knows what she wants, but she's always very polite. So tell the story of how she came into the store and how you met her.

Speaker 2: 6:10

Actually, she walked in the store and we bonded over her hand handbag. She had a saline bag, was a brand new bag. I still remember. And so I CA I compliment her bag and we started talking a different person, a girl that worked at the store was helping her, but Linda, no more than the salesperson. Right? So she was a little bit scared and she ran to me to the back and she's like, e-comm e-comm I need your help. I'm like what? She said, there's the customer outside. She knows way more than me. And you are the only person who can help her. I was like, Oh, I was just talking to her. I stopped talking to Linda two minutes later, she's in my chair. I'm doing her makeup. So I didn't know. Who's Linda is one day I'm at Saks. And I saw her walking by and then we start talking and she, and everybody's staring at her. So she said, bill told me to go somewhere. I don't remember exactly what was going on. And, and I was like, okay, I don't know whose bill, but I'll take it out. I'll I'll be nice. Right. So she walked away and two girls, they ran into me. They were like, you know, who's that girl, who's that lady? I said, I don't know. But she's a great, nice, polite client. I wish I had people like her every day. Right. They were like, Oh, she is[inaudible] girlfriend. And I was like, okay, who's bill Walczak right. And they were like, Oh, you don't watch sport. I'm like, no, I don't. But maybe I'll watch one day. I was telling Linda the story, another time I saw her at the store, I was telling her the story and we start laughing. And that's how we met. So wow. A good day. You know, I, it was, I'm trying to think.

Speaker 1: 7:49

One of my earliest stories about Linda was we were sitting together at a breast cancer fundraiser and it was a luncheon. And she said, you know, Carrie, you really should come to one of the games. Do you want to come to one of the games? And I said, are they on Saturdays or Sundays? And she was like,

Speaker 2: 8:10

We're going to be really good friends

Speaker 1: 8:12

For me. I just fell in love with her. She's amazing at styling and fashion. And she's got an incredible eye. And when she introduced me to you Eaker and she was like, Carrie, let me tell you, like, if I have to be on TV or I have to have to be filmed for a cover or something, e-comm comes with me. And that's really, I listened to her and I valued her opinion. And I will say if I have to be somewhere to, and you know, I that's the one non-negotiable is having you do my makeup.

Speaker 2: 8:47

Where are you running off, goes to somebody else. So let's talk,

Speaker 1: 8:50

Vote when you do my makeup for the shoot. And you always push me out of my comfort zone, which I definitely fight you on. And you encourage me to wear a red lipstick or something bold. And you always say that there's me like my everyday makeup. And then what you call the new you. So can you talk about the new you or that, or this philosophy,

Speaker 2: 9:10

Because you like to do your makeup the same way. Carrie is a girl who loves her lip gloss. She will buy 20 lip glosses until she will think she doesn't have enough. Right. So I like to put the lipstick on her and she'd be like, no, I don't wear lipstick. I'm like, Carrie, you need the lipstick. She's like, no, it's so kind of like, it's the new you? She said, okay, I'll wear the lipstick. But then she leaves the store, go to her car, wiped the lipstick. And I look at the pictures and text her Carrie, where what's happened to the lipstick. I don't see them your picture.

Speaker 1: 9:44

Right. Well, the funny thing is, you know, when you will fill in my brows and you get so frustrated with me, cause I'd be like, I don't want you to, I don't want you to. And you're like, listen to me, I'm trying to do you a favor. And then you get so frustrated and you'll be like,

Speaker 2: 9:59

Wipe it off in your car. I don't care. I'm done

Speaker 1: 10:01

With this. I'm done with you.

Speaker 2: 10:04

Well, I know you're going to do it. So I just admitted it.

Speaker 1: 10:07

Right. It's like I, but I do agree. I do agree. And the biggest fear or the fear around the makeup for shoots is that people feel like it's too much. And, and it has to be too much. Like let's be real. And so they come in, Carrie is a too overdone. It feels too heavy. I just, I don't feel like myself, but the light eats, eats away at this makeup. And I agree. I mean, a red lip is really bold and it's hard for me sometimes because I am so fair that, you know, but it's the right tone. And you will get like the orange more based red rather than like I'm a darker red. But some of the issues I see today are heavy brows or overdone, fake eyelashes. I think eyelashes are a must for a photo shoot. I don't know. We can talk about that later, but your trademark secret is your famous glow and the highlights that the cheekbones. And I don't really think, I mean, I think you can train people, but this, you just have this gift. So can you talk about the secret of yours, this, this glow, and maybe mention a couple of products that you use to achieve this.

Speaker 2: 11:21

It's just my magic hands. You actually just picking up the right shades of highlighters. It's not one color for all fits all. There is colors that fit different skin type, different skin tone. And some people, they like too much highlighter others. They don't. So you have to listen to the client and then give them what they want. Sometimes they're wrong, but you still have to listen.

Speaker 1: 11:46

Okay. So it's like, when people say I can't come in to get my head shot because I'm too, or I need to get a tan or why don't I do it at the end of the summer? And it's, that's not the answer because I, we both have to fix something that someone who's over, like, you know, put on too much tanning lotion. And that can be problematic too. And I can't reach that out. Sometimes

Speaker 2: 12:12

Social media is killing this business because they look at celebrities and they think they wake up everyday. Like that. It's not true. It's a lot of work before they, they take a shirt or anything happened. They have a lot of makeup. We just don't see it right. The way they do it. Right.

Speaker 1: 12:29

Right. So the biggest obstacle I find around getting people to invest in a headshot is people have a hard time making themselves a priority. And it's the same fear that people have around online dating. And you know, you see this in your store as well. You know, people would be like, I don't like how I look. I need to wait until I lose weight. Can you talk about the most common concerns or fears you see with women?

Speaker 2: 12:55

Well, a lot of concerns is sometimes they say, I need to lose weight. I'm like, you have to start somewhere. Right? You can just wait for it to happen. Miracles. They don't happen those days, nothing happened just like, you need to work on yourself. You put in a lipstick, it doesn't need to be a red lipstick. Wake up in the morning. What's your face, make yourself happy when you're happy, you'll be able to do a lot of things. And one of them is date,

Speaker 1: 13:25

Right? So you've mentioned before that people, you know, don't believe in themselves and they often judge before they try and you will hear over and over again. I don't want to try that color. It will look horrible. I may, but you believe that there's a color for everyone. It's how you pick the color. So can you, how do you, do you just know? Like, you're like, okay,

Speaker 2: 13:48

So this is a true story. Actually. I just left the store and this client, she walked in and she asked me for a plum gray eye shadow. Okay. I think I showed her like 17 colors. She's like, no, that's the color I want. No. I was like, okay. Then she picked a green forest color. Wow. So there is a miscommunication, a miss it's like a disconnect people. They don't know what they want. So you just have, like I said, again, you have to listen to them. Sometimes I actually don't show them the color. I'll put her on and let them see it first because showing a color on this, like my hand is different than on their face. Right. So I will explain to them, this is what we're going to do, but let me just put it on first. And then you can judge 99%. They like it.

Speaker 1: 14:41

Right. And I think that's where the trust comes, except especially for shoots because you know, there's going to be multiple, um, alpha changes and the lighting's going to change. We have a lot, we have to work with and usually in a short period of time. And so I don't really want to weigh in on that stuff because my job is to get, get that image. So I want to focus on just that. And so recently you did my makeup for a shoot and I just didn't even, I was like, do what you want. You know, because I do know a lot about makeup and I have things that I like, but I just feel like everyone has their lane. Everyone has their expertise and everyone has their skillset. And I think the trust, I would think that the trust in you is almost like trusting me that I'm going to be able to get that photograph of them because they're so awful. And so the same thing goes for dating that there's like, you know, a shade or there's a person for everyone. And people assume that someone might not like them or that dating is out of their reach. Your advice on becoming successful is to get out of your comfort zone, lose that corporate look and incorporate some fun. So like the red lipstick for me, um, how did you know that? Like getting people away from like that corporate look and really pushing it in a fun way, it was the way to stand out,

Speaker 2: 16:09

But they want to get out from that corporate look, they walk in looking for something new and different, right? So they tell you, this is what I use, but they're looking for something different. Right. That's why I usually say a highlighter. That's a good thing. I'm like, you know what, if you put a little bit highlighter that will give you a different log. If you change your lipstick color, you'll look different. You need to be, leave your job aside your yourself. Now you're going out with your friends. You're going on a date. You have to be yourself. You can't it's, don't be serious. It's just the makeup. You can wipe it off. Right.

Speaker 1: 16:45

Which I am guilty of doing sometimes

Speaker 2: 16:47

All the time.

Speaker 1: 16:51

But I don't know. I mean, I, there's an example of me being pushed out of my comfort zone and not liking it. You know, even though it's the right thing for me. And I know that the light eats away at the makeup. And so one of, I mean, that's your skillset. You push women away from their everyday look and you enhance their beauty, but you still have them look like themselves. So can you give me an example? I don't know. I mean, you know, I've seen you do lots of things on shoots where say glitter, you know, like glitter base in the eyeshadow. It's, it's going to travel, but it is beautiful. And it does give you that extra punch. So you just have to trust. And sometimes I may be nervous about something that you do. But, um, you know, I, I do think, you know, and I it's fascinating to me how you know all this and how you just had those without even any training. I mean, wouldn't you say that that's just innate in you?

Speaker 2: 17:53

Well, you educate yourself. I won't say I, I, I did get a lot of training with time doing this for 13 years. You learn a lot. You go through a lot of training. You, I you'll listen, you go like Google thing, you ask and I'm guilty. I try everything I'm like before I put it on someone's face. I want to put it on my face first and see if it's working right. If I'm putting my name on the product, I'm selling your show in you. I want to know a hundred percent. That is a great product,

Speaker 1: 18:22

Right? That's good. So this is all great information. We're going to take a short break, but when we come back, we're going to talk about the changes in the beauty industry during the pandemic and how to look fabulous on zoom calls.

Speaker 3: 18:37

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Speaker 1: 19:12

And we're back with makeup artists.[inaudible] eager. Um, can you talk about the changes or challenges in the beauty industry once the pandemic hit? So, I mean, everyone was basically ditching lipstick for masks.

Speaker 2: 19:26

That's true. So the first day this happened, we all heard it's a virus. Everyone was quiet about it. We didn't know. It's huge. All I remember is Sunday night at 9:00 PM, I get a call that we are not visiting stores. And I did not know what to expect. I was like, okay, well it's one day, two days. It was not one day, two days. It turned to a four months staying home and people, they were comfortable not wearing makeup the beginning. Yeah. But then they panicked

Speaker 1: 19:59

Right early March until basically like late June. I think we were both out of work per basically five months, I think. And we, we first saw people's hair, took the hit. So, um, you couldn't get hair appointments, men, women, otherwise it was, um, we figured out who was really blonde, a knew who was gray and all of that. And so it didn't really matter though, because, well, unless you had to do zoom calls and a lot of people had to do that right away. But we saw that hair took the first hit and people were starting to cut back and not investing in skincare products. And, you know, you were saying like, I don't need it. I'm just home. But the truth is we do need it. And during COVID you gave me this magic serum prevent by SkinCeuticals. And I couldn't prevent myself from, you know, going through a bottle one week and one week. And you were like, Carrie I'm like, what are you doing? Here's three drops a day. I was like three drops. Like, where was that? Anywhere on the packaging. It wasn't. Um, but that's, you know, that's what happens when you're isolated and you can't, you know, how do I've been in the store? And he gave it to me. I mean, you gave it to me on a shoot. So we were definitely focused on the shoe, but had you, you would have gone through that product with me, like thoroughly in the store, because you would be like, this is what you need. This is, and you know, and you would have explain it to me. And so that's the one thing is that we don't have that hands-on, um, there's no more testers. There's no more samples. If you had to purchase something, not knowing if it was right for you, you couldn't touch anything. And you found that people were returning products that they bought, but people were desperate to look and feel good. And, and you're seeing that still now. Um, you know, people I said to my boyfriend the other day, I said, I don't, how many people have their Christmas trees up already? And he was like, you know, a Carrie people want hope they want to feel better. I mean, for me, it isn't putting up decorations. Like I would always feel better if I could go into blue mercury and get a new lip gloss or get something new that it just, I don't know, a kick in my step. And so the hour, you know, you couldn't even go to work. I mean, you're just newly back. You work today. And then you were able to come here after work. But you know, you find that people were desperate and what happens now with the pandemic that people can go in the store and, and how has it changed? How has it differed

Speaker 2: 22:33

So that we're going to go back to trust. That's when you build the trust with your client, they will trust you. No matter what, I had a lot of people FaceTime in me calling me, texting me, emailing me, like I'm desperate. Now my job wants me to be, to be on zoom before we didn't have video chat. Now I have to be on the video chat. I need help. What should they wear? What should they do? So that's the one thing I will say that was good with this pandemic because before everyone was a makeup artist, everyone was a ski person. Everybody watched YouTube and they think they know it. All right. So now your clients will call you text. You ask you what they need. And thankfully, I have a lot of good fateful client that they still keep in touch with me, Carrie, you're one of them,

Speaker 1: 23:20

Right? Well, you know, I need you for my shoots. You're, you're definitely, um, someone that makes a huge difference. And when I recommend and makes my job a lot easier, when you can make someone look amazing and camera ready, but there was a huge loss in the significant portion of, of our industry. And that was the lack of events. And so you would create a look for every season and some, you know, events maybe had a theme. People would always splurge on a particular event. And when the pandemic hit, everything was canceled and all the weddings were postponed. And you know, my dad, someone like my dad who does events, primarily, you know, everything just kind of stopped, but the silver lining is that people really appreciate you and what you have to offer. And I do think you have to stand out in your industry in order to weather this storm. And the pace was so fast before there was so much access that so many things weren't valued, like just getting your hair done or getting your nails done, or being able to have your makeup done, you know, and here you are in a mask doing people's makeup and people still needed to get updated resumes and they still needed updated headshots. And they, you know, if you're still in that company, your brand, your face over that website or over that zoom call is your calling card. And it became, you know, extremely valued. There's this new appreciation for your expertise. And, and I do think that's good. The modern day woman has literally has such little time than ever before. She might be working from home or homeschooling, but still needs to look good when she gets on those multiple zoom calls. And then the other thing that just kind of blew up in the online dating world was the virtual date.

Speaker 2: 25:20

Yes. I actually did an event for a company in New York city that was called, uh, catching feelings and that's called hood. And it was all online. Dating is it's crazy. They did. They opened this website when this whole thing started and they did really good.

Speaker 1: 25:36

Yeah. Well, cause it blew up. Yeah. I mean we knew eventually online dating would blow up, but within four months of the pandemic, it, the numbers just went from like 30% to 96%. Yeah. And so I do believe right now is a good time to meet someone, but you know, throw on some lip gloss they're on a little highlighter and a little concealer and jump on that virtual date

Speaker 2: 25:59

And think about it. If you don't like the person, you just like close the camera and pretend that your phone is not working or your computer's not working, bye-bye, there's no hard feeling. Right. Right.

Speaker 1: 26:10

I just lost a service. So what happened with the lipstick industry and that you had mentioned that the sales went down tremendously and I, it was so funny when I first saw you, when you came to my studio to do makeup, you had a mask on and you were like, I have a mask on, but I also have lipstick on underneath the mask. And I was like, that is such a huge statement. I was crying, laughing, but you know, someone like me whose lips, lip gloss is my thing. Like, I love it. I have 35 live classes in my bag at all times. I miss it. I definitely miss it. I mean, it sounds like such minor problems considering the state of the world. But, um, and it is, so you saw the focus shift up towards the eyes. And how did you, like, how did you navigate that? Like, people really were just focused on the eyes.

Speaker 2: 26:57

Well, people, they were focusing on skin and eyes and mostly eyes because that's all you can see. You just see their eyes. You can just someone by their eyes, you have mascara on, you don't have mascara. It's something it's a pick me up. And mascara was the biggest seller item after dependent, after like we opened stores because everyone was desperate. I need that one product that can make me look good without breaking the bank. Wow. Yeah. Mascara was that product that everyone wants.

Speaker 1: 27:29

Interesting. So what would you say, what would your tip be for like one beauty product that will give you the maximum results? So if you, you know, money's tight and you can pick one thing, what would it be? Do you think?

Speaker 2: 27:46

Personally, I like my concealer. That's like a cup of coffee for me. So I'm like, you know what? You don't want to see me before we're in a consider, but that's okay. It's something that I, I think it's magical for me. Right. When it's come to color my skincare, I can't live without my vitamin C. Oh, it does give you that nice glow. It's nice. You can skip a moisturizer. If, if you want to, if you can afford only one thing, I'll say invest in the serum because it does penetrate deeper in your skin. You'll see more result with that one product. Okay.

Speaker 1: 28:20

What would you recommend for a vitamin C?

Speaker 2: 28:24

I loved the ski circles. That's the best their patent on that serum. And it's unbelievable. Really? You use it. I use the, yeah. That's vitamin C. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 28:35

Oh, it's the same thing. Okay. That's good. And I'm now backing off and not finishing a bottle in a way.

Speaker 2: 28:41

I'm proud of it.

Speaker 1: 28:47

Some of the things that I love about you is that you are so authentic and genuine, and the key to your success is building relationships with people and you don't try to sell more product. You guide your clients to purchase what they need. So was there a shortage of any particular products during the pandemic for myself or just, yeah, like, was there something I know for me, um, in the photography world, there were certain things I couldn't get that. And also if I needed something the next day to have shipped, because some, a lot of my celebrity covers there. Wasn't, there's not a lot of time. It's like, you're shooting this person and you have 24 hour notice. And so sometimes, I mean, I could be on the phone with, um, BNH in New York at four o'clock and at eight o'clock in the morning, the next day I would have what I, what I needed. And now that's not the case. It's not

Speaker 2: 29:42

Everything. You can find everything. But I had actually, you know, what's so funny. I was never the person who will be like, Oh, I'm going to jump on Instagram and do a makeup tutorial for clients or anything. But then I had to, because that was part of my job. I need to do a tutorial. And I was so hard for me to get a ring light. Oh. Because I can't see the quality. I think I ordered like three from best buy and I had to return it back. I ordered from Amazon and it was, it took like six weeks for the light to arrive. So that was a product that was a hot buy at the time.

Speaker 1: 30:21

Wow. Yeah. And see, yeah. That's so I, I had to like learn how to zoom during this time. I was not someone who, who did that ever. Um, and I still am not really great at it, but I'm learning. And, um, it is, it's going to be part of our life moving forward. And the other thing that I noticed was the sanitation process. So, you know, you were buying all new brushes and I felt bad because I'm like, here you are doing this shoot. And you're buying individual makeup for clients. And you're buying brushes for that shoot. And it was like, how are you going to make money? If, if you're buying multiple of everything so that you have the time to sanitize,

Speaker 2: 31:02

Well, you have to make sure that you are a hundred percent clean. I will feel the same. If some, if I go somewhere, I would rather them have clean. I don't expect nobody to buy new things, but clean list. It's one key for this industry. You have to wash your brushes constantly. Sometimes you have to people, you have to have two sets. I can't just like stop in the middle of the shoot and be like, I need to wash my brushes. You have to go well-prepared for things like this. And thankfully, my kids was the same before and it stayed the same. I always have alcohol hand, sanitizers wipes. You work with people faces, right? You have to be neat.

Speaker 1: 31:42

Right? I like talking about the products because I feel like you're such an expert. And that's why, you know, this is where your, what was that position they created for you at Nordstrom? The beauty style of beauty stylist. I think that's where your years of being a beauty stylist, you know, everything about every product. So do you have a system or a beauty routine that you do every morning or every night?

Speaker 2: 32:06

I'm actually very easy with my beauty routine. Like in the morning, I'll just wash vitamin C face cream. Sometimes I put an eye cream, ha 10 times of a hundred. I don't put a high eye cream. I skip it. Cause I'm like on the go I'm quick. And I did the same with the clients. I think if you have three product, it's perfect. You don't need to put 17 items on your face to go somewhere. You just need to find what will work for you and for your skin. Right? So that, and then I'll do mascara concealer. I used to wear a lipstick the old days, the old, beautiful days. Now I don't wear nothing. I want a mask. It's hard. So

Speaker 1: 32:47

People are afraid to use retinol or prescription grade products. And I never have, but what do you, what is your feeling around

Speaker 2: 32:56

Actually people, they should be scared using retinol or any prescription grade product without consulting with their physician or a skin specialist, because you can buy something that will harm your skin. So if you ruin your skin, it's done for retinol. You have to be very, very careful what you use because you have to use the right's retinol. You have to follow up with sunscreen because if you don't use the sunscreen, you're just destroying your skin. You have to know when to use it. It's a nice product only. And there is a lot of ways how to use retinol. You can just slap it on your face. After washing your face, you have to wash your face, wait for your face to be totally dry. Put the retinol on. And then I tell people don't wear nothing over it because that's one product that will work. Its vitamin E is great for your skin. Interesting. You have to just know how to use it, right. Or I tell them if you don't, I tell people you're not wearing sunscreen. Don't buy this product. You cannot leave your house without a sunscreen.

Speaker 1: 33:56

Right? Yeah. So I, um, have always worn a sunscreen and I have never gone in the sun ever. And that has helped my skin tremendously. But you can tell if I'm tired, if I'm not eating well, you know, you'll say to me, drink water.

Speaker 2: 34:18

You need to be hydrated. You need to be

Speaker 1: 34:19

Hydrated Kerry. And it's something so silly. It's like drinking water. I could feel it today. I had a cup of coffee and I was like, so dehydrated from that. And yeah, I mean people, but if you really want to have that useful look, you would say drink a lot of water

Speaker 2: 34:35

At waters. It's free. You don't have to pay a lot of money for that. So that's a great hydrating product for you.

Speaker 1: 34:41

Right? I'm going to wrap up the episode with a quick fire round of questions about the best products maybe for you or just in general, what is the best product for under eye circles? Do you conceal and then Brighton?

Speaker 2: 34:55

No. All you need is one product. I love the NARS concealer. It's called the radiant creamy concealer. It does brighten and conceal. And it's the number one seller in the U S so that's a product that I think everyone should have.

Speaker 1: 35:10

Okay. And what color do I take in that?

Speaker 2: 35:14

Or you you'll be a creme brulee. It's actually a color. So

Speaker 1: 35:21

What is your go-to shade for eye shadow? Are there certain IP pallets that you prefer?

Speaker 2: 35:25

I don't think I have like a thousand iPads, but I use the same color every single day today. I actually don't that for you carry to bed. They can see it. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 35:34

I know. I love, I do like the color. I just like colors. It's really pretty. And could I get, could I get away with that color and not really? Of course you can. I can. Okay. Well, I know people can't see you, but you have these like gorgeous, like Bambi Brown eyes and they look really pretty. It looks bad. Eye shadow is really pretty. Thank you. So, so what is the name of that, that color for my, what you're wearing now? Yeah,

Speaker 2: 36:03

I actually wear two shade from NARS. One is night star and the other one is New York. Okay.

Speaker 1: 36:14

Now, is there any mask you prefer and do you recommend exfoliating once a week?

Speaker 2: 36:22

Uh, my favorite mask is$15 masks. It's called Mario Brasco mask. It's honey and almond face scrub. So what I do, I put it on my face, like a mask and then I'll wait a couple minutes, like 10 minutes max and I wash it. So that's will exfoliate all the dead skin and hydrate your face, the best$15 you'll spend in your life.

Speaker 1: 36:42

Okay. So you do that once a week?

Speaker 2: 36:45

Once a week? Yeah. Once a week is great, actually.

Speaker 1: 36:47

Okay. What is your favorite mascara?

Speaker 2: 36:51

Oh, that's a good one. I think there's a lot of mascara. I like Armani mascara. I do actually like the NARS climax mascara. Okay. And those are my two gold maskers

Speaker 1: 37:03

It's actually. Okay. I feel like I like it's called better than sex

Speaker 2: 37:08

Benefit benefit. That's a great mascara too. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 37:11

Yeah. I dunno. I like that, but I do switch it up sometimes. So what is your favorite product for lines and wrinkles?

Speaker 2: 37:20

Vitamin C instead of

Speaker 1: 37:22

Calls. Okay. Yeah. We've talked about different moisturizers and you've definitely, you know, so don't spend the money on certain things and spend the money on this. Let's say you're exhausted dehydrated. And you have to go back out with that person that you went on a date with the night before. What product would you use to give yourself a boost?

Speaker 2: 37:41

So I think, you know, this product, there is a product called, Nitara say that highest lift mask. That's like Botox in the jar. It just achieved Botox. You put it on, give you the best glow. Nice lifted. You look like you drank seven cups of coffee. You're ready for the nights. Wow.

Speaker 1: 37:56

Okay. That's good. I wish I knew that when I was on Tinder, but let's say you're super nervous of a first date and you're sweating. And would you set your makeup with a powder? What are your thoughts on that?

Speaker 2: 38:12

I'm not a person who likes to set their makeup is theirs. You can, if you do your makeup the right way, you do not need to set it. Like if you just apply it nicely, you'll be fine. If you're sweating, I would say go take a shower and you'll be fine.

Speaker 1: 38:29

So what would you say? Um, I know sometimes you'll, you'll say to me, Oh my gosh, I like a hydration and it's like a mist or something that you'll like spray on.

Speaker 2: 38:39

I love the fresh, that's the one, the fresh mist. It's a hydrating spray. It does give you that nice glow to the skin. And it smells like orange.

Speaker 1: 38:48

What is that? Glow? And it's like a shear. I think it's like why

Speaker 2: 38:54

There's YSL? Yes. That's the two shack. The two shackle actually is a great product. When they created that product, it was just to highlight. You can highlight under your eye, your lip area, over your eyebrows. That was their number one seller.

Speaker 1: 39:09

What about, uh, coverage for foundation?

Speaker 2: 39:13

You can, it's depend. What's covers you on some people want medium coverage, light coverage, full coverage. It's what you like. I'm just going to say don't go heavy handed. Okay. I'm a light coverage person. I like to use powder foundation. Believe it or not, but just slightly.

Speaker 1: 39:31

Okay. What is your favorite brow pencil?

Speaker 2: 39:36

I do like this brand called Lunesta. I think that's what I showed you. Last time. It's called universal B-roll pencil. It's easy to use. You don't have to fuss with it. It's quick. Two minutes. You get the job done.

Speaker 1: 39:48

Okay. Favorite product for super dry lips?

Speaker 2: 39:53

Uh, I do like lip balms, but I don't like the one that they're sticky.

Speaker 1: 39:59

What about what's the one that I use

Speaker 2: 40:01

Tara is my favorite lip balm. That's the one you use the Rose one. When you first gave it to me,

Speaker 1: 40:08

I was like, what just happened? Because I'm now going to just be selling this product. It's a great, yeah. What is your go-to lipstick color or lip gloss?

Speaker 2: 40:17

I'm a lipstick girl. You're a lip gloss girl. So I like rap and I do like a light pink. Oh,

Speaker 1: 40:26

So yeah. You wouldn't do like a nude.

Speaker 2: 40:29

I think I did a nude for years. So I'm trying to grow up a little bit here a bit. Correct?

Speaker 1: 40:36

What are your thoughts on fake lashes for every day? Or would you wear one? I wear them on a date.

Speaker 2: 40:42

No, you got it. When you go in on a date, be yourself. You don't have to put that much work on your eyelashes or I like natural lashes mascara. Believe me. I did the fake lashes extension for a year and I'm not that person.

Speaker 1: 40:57

Yeah. Well you have beautiful eyelashes as is

Speaker 2: 41:01

Mascara. Is your go-to.

Speaker 1: 41:03

Yeah, I agree. So this is my last question. Life certainly has not been easy right now. What is your advice? When the going gets rough?

Speaker 2: 41:12

I would just say get up every morning for the lipstick on and let us go. There you go.

Speaker 1: 41:20

Eco, thank you so much for sharing all your beauty tips with us today. Where can people follow you or find you?

Speaker 2: 41:25

You can follow me on my Instagram account. It's eager. I'm given. Okay.

Speaker 1: 41:29

And that's like the best place to find you.

Speaker 2: 41:31

Yeah, I'm usually not social media person, but you can find me there. Okay. That's great. Thank you

Speaker 1: 41:37

So much for being here today. You were wonderful. Wonderful

Speaker 2: 41:40

For having me. This was amazing. Thank you.

Speaker 1: 41:45

And now for this week's Tinder tips. Number one, always be yourself and Hance your beauty, but don't try to be someone else. Number two, you want someone to see your eye color, not your makeup. If you overdo it, it's not you. If you're trying too hard, it will show number three. Believe in yourself. Remind yourself that you are a triple threat. You have it, all, everything you need. Isn't found in a makeup bag. I hope you found some of my tips helpful this week. This is what shot at love is here for, to help you find love. Keep up the commitment to yourself and commit to helping someone else by sharing this podcast. Remember to stay safe and stay tuned for more episodes. If you'd like me to photograph you or your online dating profile, DM me, or email me about my shot at locomotion. I'm Carrie Brett, and we'll see you next time.