Tuesday Quick Tip #70 - June 21, 2011

Starlet Jenny Mollen sports summer's hottest makeup look - bronzed goddess. Brett shares his favorite tips to getting a sun-kissed glow this season!

The most important step to getting a bronzed makeup look is prepping the skin! Start by applying your favorite moisturizer or foundation and set it with a loose or pressed powder in your skin color. Brett loves MAC's Mineralize for it's sheer coverage. The powder stops the skin from grabbing the too-dark bronzing color.

Next, use a fluffy brush to apply your bronzer (Brett uses Elizabeth Arden Bronze Glow Pure Finish Mineral Bronzing Powder), starting at the jaw line, working your way up. Watch as your whole face warms up and immediately looks more alive!

Bonus tip: make sure you get the neck! Use Vanitymark's SUMMERSKIN on your chest, shoulders, and neck right up to the jaw line for an all over matching, bronzed color.

Getting a gorgeous bronzed glow has never been so simple!

Video Quick Tip #69 - June 7, 2011

Want to know how to stay pretty all summer? Brett tells us his three favorite makeup products to keep you looking gorgeous in the heat!

Josie Maran Argan Oil - It's 100% pure argan oil, with no parabens or fillers and moisturizes like a dry oil. It goes on really sheer and finely diffuses into the skin! Brett uses this around the eyes and mouth to bring hydration back into the skin. Mix it with a drop of foundation or your regular moisturizer to reinvigorate the skin, or use it at night for a moisture boost.

Benefit They're Real! Mascara - This mascara amazes in just one coat! It spreads beautifully, gives lashes great texture, and dries in no time. For a more dramatic, lash-popping look, apply 2-3 coats. Lashes will look thicker and longer, forcing people to ask the question, are those real??

Elizabeth Arden Sheer Lipstick - Bright lips like we've seen on Drew Barrymore and Camilla Belle are hot, hot, hot right now. But gals afraid to go bold with color will love these sheer lipsticks! They're not as waxy or pigmented like regular lipstick formulas but still give a pop of buildable color in a very modern way.

Run, don't walk, to your local beauty store to add these summer must-haves to your makeup roundup!

Video Quick Tip #68 - April 26, 2011

If you're looking for maximum eye impact, you don't necessarily have to have to go dark and smoky. In this week's tip, Brett shows us how to draw interest up to the eyes with a light, doe-eyed makeup look.

Make sure your brows are neat and groomed. All the focus will be drawn up so tweeze any stray hairs, and define your arches with a brow pencil like Vanitymark's Ultra-Brow Pencil (one shade lighter than hair is your best bet!).

Begin by applying a matte neutral shadow like MAC Brule all over the lid. Add a deeper neutral shade in the crease to recess the area, and lightly dust along the lower lash line as well - fair gals should try MAC Wedge, and those with deeper skintones look great in MAC Cork. Highlight the brow bone and tearduct with MAC Nylon to open up the eye.

Choose a light, shimmery eyeliner pencil instead of your standard black to line the eyes. Brett likes MAC Heirloom, a silvery lavender. Apply right at the lashline across the whole upper lash and on the lower lash line, too. This brightens up the eye by using shimmery, light-reflecting shades and the off-color adds instant interest.

Curl your lashes! This is key to looking wide-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Apply lots of mascara - Brett's go-to mascara is L'Oreal Voluminous in Carbon. Add multiple layers for maximum impact. If you really want to turn up the drama, add in a few Ardell short balck individual lashes, coat again with mascara and add one last pump of the lash curler.

Now check out those Betty Boop eyes - enjoy pretty!

Video Quick Tip #67 - April 12, 2011

The temperatures have finally gone above 40 degrees (at least in NYC)! Now it's time to celebrate and switch around your makeup bag to include more summer-friendly shades and formulations.

In the video below, Brett discusses a few of his favorite products that you should add to the mix as the weather heats up.

According to Brett, the key traits of summer beauty products are: breathable coverage, SPF, long-wearing formulas, and warm, peachy shades. And what are the must-have products he loves?

Jemma Kidd School Light As Air liquid foundation, SPF 18 - This foundation feels like a tinted moisturizer but with a touch more coverage. It's a breathable formula, but really stays put - perfect for those hot summer days!

Clinique City Block Sheer Oil-Free Daily Face Protector, SPF 25 - Perfect for layering under makeup, this sheer physical sunblock reflects the rays off the skin, and is oil-free. Great for active gals that like to be outdoors a lot!

Benefit Cha Cha Tint - This new mango/apricot version of Benetint (launching in June) is great for ladies who aren't a fan of pinky lip and cheek stains. The new shade goes great with bronzey summer skin and has the long wear that Benetint is known for!

Bonnie Bell Gel Bronze - This cheapie drugstore bronzer can be worn alone on good skin days, or for a warm glow everyday, add a bit to your foundation and apply together! Brett recommends the golden shade - it's the most universally flattering.

Now go start your 'spring cleaning' and prep that makeup bag for warm weather!

Video Quick Tip #66 - March 8, 2011

Love that retro makeup look Katy Perry pulls off so well? Then you're in luck!

Brett recently did a pin-up photoshoot with glamorous model Icey, and together they demo how to get those classic "come hither" eyes.

THE BASE

Pin up gals have flawless skin and perfectly sculpted brows, so I used Lorac Natural Performance lightly all over the face and down the neck to give a veil of coverage, and filled in and extended the tail of Icey's brows with Vanitymark's Ultra-Brow Pencil in Blondie.

LIDS

For the lids, you want a neutral flat bone shade as the base - MAC Brule is perfect, but your pressed powder compact works in a pinch, too! Apply MAC Wedge in the crease and up into the inner brow and highlight underneath the arch with MAC Nylon shimmer. Using a flat brush, also add a little MAC Nylon to the lid up to the crease and into the inner tearduct.

LASHES

Apply false lashes like Ardell #110 from the mid-lash to the outer corner (cut down the false lashes if they're too long), and use a lash curler to line up the false lashes with the real set.

LINER

Use a great liquid liner pen like Shishiedo's version in Black and make a clean, straight line close to the upper lash line to cover the "seam" of the fake lash. Then make a thin line all the way across the lash line out to the edge of the eye and extend, going out and up towards the temple for lift. Go over the line and build it to the thickness you desire. For the lower lash line, use a charcoal pencil like Benefit Stainless, lightly brushing the line out as well. For added crispness, take a white liner like Lancome Blanco and apply in-between the upper and lower liner extensions.

To cap off this retro look, wear your favorite classic blue-red lipstick. Now that you have the pin-up makeup, get ready to bat those eyes and pose!

Video Quick Tip #65 - February 15, 2011

Looking to create “it girl” eyes? Then look no further!

Brett worked with starlet Jessica Lucas for the Big Momma’s House: Like Father Like Son premiere, and to complement her bold army green dress, he gave her smoky eyes with a khaki spin.

Your kit should include –

• MAC eye shadow: Blackberry, Print and Nylon
• Jemma Kidd School liner in Kingfisher
• MAC Smolder eyeliner
• eye shadow brushes: a medium size and a smaller, tighter brush
• Vanitymark Ultra-Brow pencil in Milk Choco

Lightly fill in the brows behind the brow hairs. Use a brow pencil that’s one shade lighter than hairs for the most natural look. For Jessica’s coloring, Vanitymark’s Ultra-Brow pencil in Milk Choco (a medium chocolate brown) works perfectly.

Take MAC Blackberry, a neutral plum shade and apply deep into the crease of the lid, lightly up into the brow area and underneath the eye. Carry the color to the outside corner of the eye and let the colors meet there.

Using a small brush, apply MAC Print, a matte charcoal shadow as an eyeliner, keeping it tight to the lower lashline and carrying the line out and up.

Highlight the brow bone under the arch and the inner tear duct with MAC Nylon, a champagne shimmer.

Now for the edgy part. Use Jemma Kidd School eyeliner in Kingfisher as a cream shadow and brush onto the lid, making the color stronger near the lashline. Brett loves this color – it’s the perfect khaki green and even has a hint of metallic sheen.

For the finishing touch, apply a hint of MAC Smolder eyeliner to the upper and lower lash line, Ardell individual lash falsies and L’Oreal Voluminous mascara.

Enjoy pretty!

Video Quick Tip #64 - January 25, 2011

Along with overeating this holiday season, did you also find yourself overplucking your arches?

We all can get a little "tweeze-happy" from time to time, but luckily Brett Freedman is demo-ing his flawless technique for filling in brows while they grow back.

Brett met his cousin Mary Ann at Kalologie Skincare on Robertson Blvd., one of his favorite beauty spots, to give her a mini brow makeover. Dynamic brows are really in right now, so he showed Mary Ann how to play up her fab arches while she waits for the hairs to grow back in after a minor bout of over-tweezing.

First things first, whether thick or thin, make sure your brow area is clean! Lightly tweeze stray hairs in-between brows, along temples and under the arch of the brow (leave the thickest part of brows alone).

Take a brow pencil the same shade or one shade darker than brows and fill-in behind the brow hairs completely with a light hand. Brett used his own Vanitymark Ultra-Brow Pencil in Dark Choco on Mary Ann. Extend the tail of the brow a bit if you'd like. Then add the color onto the skin below the part of the brow you're working to thicken. The darkened brow hairs should blend with the color you added to the skin.

For the perfect finishing touch, add hairspray to a brow groomer (or a clean mascara wand) and brush through hairs, brushing them up and out. The brow pencil should look undetectable!

Now you're on your way to the perfect thick and bold brow. Enjoy pretty!