5 Secrets To Smelling GREAT All Day!

Do you know the 5 secrets to make your fragrance last LONGER once you spritz?

Photo and graphics (c) Yochi Eisner 2015

Whether you choose to wear perfume, Eau de parfum, Eau de toilette,

Eau de Cologne or oils the rules are the same:

Spritz or Spray or dab on moist skin after a shower or bath.

Spritz or Spray or dab on moist pulse points (wrists, behind the knees, ears and crook of the arm).   

To get that “just showered” moist skin any time of day – apply moisturizer on skin before spraying.

Spritz or Spray or dab on your skin and not on your clothes( you may ruin them!).

Use roll-on oils – but be super careful not to leave oil stains on clothing.

The fragrance you choose is a personal choice.  Over the years I have gone through countless “fragrance kicks”.  I loved mixing fragrances; first mixing different made-for-women fragrances and then mixing made-for-women with made-for-men fragrances (I loved Aramis!).  Today, I've stopped mixing, but I am not loyal to any single fragrance for more than a season or two. 

How long a fragrance will stay on your skin depends firstly on the kind of fragrance concentration (perfume, etc.) you buy and on your skin type.  So let’s understand the differences between perfume, Eau de parfum, Eau de Cologne and Eau de toilette.

Perfume contains the most concentrated amount of the scent and lasts the longest and is the most expensive.  Use sparingly!

The following “eaus” (“eau” means water in French) in order of essence concentration and lasting power.

Eau de parfum is less intense than perfume (with about 15% – 20% essence concentration), but can last quite long on the skin. Use sparingly!

Eau de toilette is next on the scent food chain with about 10% essence; a good summer scent.  Enjoy a good spritz!

Eau de Cologne has about 7% essence and is also a good, but light summer fragrance and can be reapplied often for a “refreshing feeling”. Spritz away!

Oily skin tends to help any fragrance linger longer on your skin; so if you have dry or combination skin apply a moisturizer or a matching fragrance body lotion/cream before spritzing to help keep your fragrance last longer.

Every girl needs fragrance-recharges throughout the day! The best times in my opinion are: after lunch, as a mid-afternoon pick-me-up and just before leaving work.  Keep a small bottle of roll-on oil in your makeup bag or a small bottle of your favorite fragrance in your desk for a fragrance re-charge any time you need it!

It’s time for a summer fragrance make over!  Take an hour or so and go to your favorite Pharma chain store or local cosmetic store and try on all the NEW fragrances to your heart’s content.  Don’t leave the store without buying at least one new fragrance and spritz away!

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Did you enjoy my article?  I’d love to hear from you!  Drop me a line or tell me on my facebook page and please feel free to share my blog with a bride and all your friends!

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Getting Married? Think out of the shoe box!

Who said that wedding shoes must always match the dress? White or off-white or cream?  With a white dress and veil, think about brightly colored shoes to add an incredible POP(!) of color.  

From screaming red to jewel colors and from classic high, high heels to sandal foot jewelry, take a gander at these tootsies and find the best pair (or several pairs) of shoes for your wedding in the following link.

Get inspiration from this great selection on pinterest!  https://www.pinterest.com/odyrivas/brides-shoes-in-color/

Just remember, unless you were born wearing a pair of stilettos, always bring a second pair of super comfortable shoes for the dancing.  Think ballet slippers.  Etsy has some great choices in kitten heels and ballet slippers.  https://www.etsy.com/il-en/shop/walkinonair?page=2

While we're on the topic of shoes, don't forget to "break in" your shoes before the big day!  My favorite method is to wear a pair of new, soft white socks with your new shoes and then walk around your home, as well as walk up and down a flight of stairs everyday until the wedding.  Add five minutes to your walking time each day.  The socks will protect your tootsies and heels from chafing and help stretch your shoes just a touch more. 

Have questions about your upcoming wedding?  Call me for a free pre-wedding beauty and styling consultation.

Did you enjoy my article?  I’d love to hear from you!  Drop me a line or tell me on my facebook page and please feel free to share my blog with a bride and all your friends!

Do you have any questions about Jewish wedding customs, please drop me a line?  Do you want to learn more about brides, weddings and beauty? Please subscribe to my blog. 

How can I look like on a celeb on the red carpet?

I always talk about finding beauty inspiration from celebrity looks.  The problem is that when some women look at photos of these celebrities at red carpet events, many times they say to themselves they will never look ‘like them’ - so why try? 

Wrong approach!  When you look at photos of celebrities, you are looking at the result of tens of woman (and man) -hours of work.  Professional teams of stylists, makeup artists and hairstylists collectively work on these women to produce these results and the final photos are carefully choreographed frozen moments in time.

Inspiration does not mean imitating a head-to-toe look; it means taking a touch, a sparkle or an item from the look and making it your own.

 Photo Credit: Mark Sebastian  https://www.flickr.com/photos/markjsebastian/

When you look at celebrity looks I want you to keep in mind:

Celebrities know pain and know how to smile through the pain!  Do not think for a moment that every woman on the red carpet is breathing freely and standing comfortably in their magnificent dresses.  Don’t confuse revealing and sexy gowns with comfort; every move is a dance with near disaster!  They are stitched, taped, corseted, bound and caged into their dresses.  If they didn't smile and look beautiful and graceful for their red carpet moments, their friends at Versace, Gucci, Givenchy, Zuhair Murad, Zac Posen or whomever would never lend them a gown again. 

And while we are on the subject of shoes (we were?), a recent American Medical Association study has shown that only one in one hundred thousand females come out of the birth canal wearing stilettos.  Have you taken a look at the height of red carpet shoes?  It’s true, every woman’s legs do look longer and sexier in high, high heels.  And what about that slow sexy walk?  That’s because stilettos only have one speed: slow and steady and preferably on the arm of someone who can help you walk down the red carpet without falling all the time (I still don’t know how they prevent nose bleeds). 

Now let’s talk about makeup and hair.  Every woman should know by now that the “more natural the look”, the more makeup is used!  The camera lens, especially in today’s world of HD is unforgiving; the makeup must not only be truly perfect but it must hold up to all the hot lights.  The best method to ensure the makeup is anchored is by applying layers of base and powder.  There are no short cuts here.  More truly is more.  And for the record no they don’t touch their faces, rub their eyes or lick their lips from the moment the makeup is cemented on and until it is peeled off hours later!

Today’s hairstyle trends favor the nearly messy, almost wavy, sort-of braided looks.  But don’t let the just-got-out-of-bed, tousled look fool you; there’s a whole lot of extensions, weaves and teasing going on, not to mention to the cans of hair spray and hair product needed to get and hold that “perfect” look.

There’s also another secret to celebrity frozen moments in time and that is celebrities know their best angles for photographs.  They know exactly how to hold their heads, where to put their hands and how to “breathe in” so the posed pictures are nearly “picture perfect and so life-like”.  The Hollywood machine, along with the hordes of actors and actresses, dress and jewelry designers, the stylists and the entire beauty industry is fed through these frozen moments in time.  Every picture must and will be perfect picture to ensure the best return on investment.

So ladies we should not use their photos as a flight map to how we must look, but rather use their photos as a reference point on the map to how we can look when we choose to.

Did you enjoy my article?  I’d love to hear from you!  Drop me a line or tell me on my facebook page and please feel free to share my blog with a bride and all your friends!

Do you have any questions about Jewish wedding customs, please drop me a line?  Do you want to learn more about brides, weddings and beauty? Please subscribe to my blog. 

The Six Commandments of Eyebrow Styling

The Six Commandments of Eyebrow Styling

It's time to share my 6 Commandments of Eyebrow Styling!  Follow these rules and you will never have another "bad eyebrow day" again!

Want to learn how to style and groom your own brows in a one-on-one lesson? Contact me today!

www.thekallahwhisperer.com

Two More Important Rules of Eyebrow Styling

There are TWO important, never-to-be broken, rules in eyebrow styling.  Now please repeat after me:

1. Never over-tweeze before an event! I would hasten to add, that it is better to allow your brows to grow “free” than to over-tweeze and be left with a two upside-down parenthesize marks to deal with.  If you can’t control your hands, then tweeze only the hairs UNDER your brow and only those not touching your brow.

2. Never try to “even out” your brows! For the innocent, this means that if you over-tweezed one eye brow NEVER try to even-out the brows by tweezing the other brow.  Use a combination of eye shadow and eye brow pencil to draw in/fill in the missing brow section, so that this brow matches (as best as possible) the 'whole' brow over the other eye.  Do not compound the error by ruining both brows!

Want to learn how to style and groom your own brows in a one-on-one lesson? Contact me today!
www.thekallahwhisperer.com

Coloring your eyebrows: When and Why

I don’t have to tell you that your eyebrows are an important part of your face.  They give a frame to your features and help others “read” your expression and therefore your mood.

Our eyebrows talk, just as much as our smiles!

Through the years we may change the color of our hair (many times!) or we may just cover the grey or we may allow the grey to show and wear our grey/white hair with pride. 

Whatever our choice, our brows don’t always follow our hair color choices and this is the time when we should think about coloring our brows.

As with all color choices, fashion and personal style influence the way we will deal with our brow color.  Amongst the fashion trends, we have seen the 'brow color should be the opposite color of your hair'; for instance dark brows with light hair or (you guessed it) light brows with dark hair. And of course, there are women who want their brows to match their hair exactly.

Whatever you choose, the color should enhance your beauty. In addition, I firmly believe that women with very light hair should have brows that are a bit darker than the natural color (no matter what the fashion trend), so the brows can still serve the purpose of framing the face.

Whatever color choice you decide, there is an easy, at-home method to color your own brows. 

Whether your use the same dye color you use on your head or a different color, the process is the same.

1.  Make sure your brows are clean and dry.  It is best to have your brows styled BEFORE you begin the coloring process.  If you wax your brows, make sure they are wax-free and clean before you begin. If you have any wax, oil or cream on your brows, the color will not 'take'.

2.  If you wish to dye your brows the same color as your hair, save a bit of dye once you have colored your hair.

3.  Use a clean, dry mascara brush (you can also buy a package of one-use mascara brushes in a variety of stores) and dip it in the dye.  Wipe off any excess dye from the bristles and then gently brush separate hairs throughout the brow.  I like to create a more natural look by not dyeing EVERY hair, so I gently color brow hairs as I brush.

4.  In general I do not leave the dye on for more than 20 minutes.

5.  If you are dyeing your hair at the same time, use a wet towelette and wipe the dye off the brow BEFORE you wash the dye out of your hair, so you do not risk dye dripping into your eyes.

6.  Warning: if the dye causes an allergic reaction to the brow/eye area, wipe off the dye immediately and gently wash the area.

Want to learn how to style and groom your own brows in a one-on-one lesson? Contact me today!

www.thekallahwhisperer.com

Don't Blink Till You See the Whites Under Their Brow Bones

It is no secret that you should apply white eye shadow directly under your brow bone to create a more lifted, open and “wide awake” look to your eyes.

But recently, I learned from a client, that if you have a very small upper eye area, you can draw a simple white line just underneath the brow bone, to produce a similar effect of more space in this upper eye area. 

Take a good, white pencil - I prefer a good quality, not-too-waxy one, such as  Sisley’s double ended Phyto-Khol Perfect Eyeliner  http://www.sisley-paris.com/en-GB/makeup/eyes/eye-liners.html  - and draw a simple, clean white line just under your brow bone from the inner edge of each brow to the outer edge.  If you have a bit more area, you can draw a some-what thicker line, but keep this white line as delicate as possible. 

This white pencil technique will create the illusion that your brows are slightly raised and make your upper eye lid area seem bit bigger.

Want to learn how to style and groom your own brows in a private one-on-one lesson? Contact me today!

www.thekallahwhisperer.com

Did You Know Your Eye Has a “Water Line”?

The area just above your bottom lashes is called “the water line”. 

The eye liner color of choice for this area is usually black.  It is the color that most women think is appropriate for this area, usually creating a more dramatic eye look.  Many women don’t even think of trying another color in this area.

But the truth is that black is not always the most attractive look for many women. Now let me give you some wonderful alternatives.

White: White in the water line creates a cool, bright look for the entire eye look.

Blue: Blue is a great choice!  Blue in the water line opens the eyes and brightens the whites of the eyes, but still gives a warmer, almost-dramatic look to the eye.

I recommend Sisley’s double ended eyeliner pencil: Phyto-Khol Perfect Eyeliner  http://www.sisley-paris.com/en-GB/makeup/eyes/eye-liners.html

Draw a clean line in the water line from outer edge of eye to tear duct.  

You may need to re-draw this line once or twice to get the color intensity you wish.  

Hint: Keep the pencil in your makeup bag, so you can retouch this line during the day/evening.

Want to learn how to style and groom your own brows in a one-on-one lesson? Contact me today!

www.thekallahwhisperer.com

Reach for your FAN! And never get hairspray on your lashes again!

I don’t have to tell you this: hairspray belongs on your hair – not your face!

Here is the scene: you just finished applying your makeup and have styled your hair.  All that is left is a quick shpritz of hairspray to ensure your style lasts the evening and you are ready to leave.

So… you spray your hair and once again get spray and gunk on your face, especially on your eye lashes and cheeks.  You have no time to redo your makeup and if you “retouch it” – you will just make it worse!

What should you do?  Reach for your FAN!  Yes a fan, like the kind you can buy at the costume counter for Purim.

Hold the fan, in front of your face, as close to your hairline as possible, carefully angle it so you cover your lashes but don’t crush them or rub your makeup.  Now you can spray your hair safely.

It would be even better of you could get someone else to spray your hair while you hold the fan!

Remember to pick up a few simple fans (ones without cut out designs) before Purim or at costume stores and store them near your hairspray.  Your makeup will thank you! 

Yochi Eisner is owner of The Kallah (bride) Whisperer.  Yochi is a professional bridal makeup artist and hair and wig stylist serving brides and their bridal parties throughout Israel.  She is also an avid blogger, writing about everything bridal from makeup and hairstyling tips and trends to stories and information about Jewish wedding traditions. Please send her a message, she’d love to hear from readers all around the world!

#kallahwhisperer 

www.thekallahhisperer.com 

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The Secret to a perfectly combed and shiny ponytail: a toothbrush!

Let me reveal two great secrets.

 Secret No. 1: Long hair is easier to maintain than short hair! 

Secret No. 2: Shiny, healthy hair swept into a sleek ponytail is an incredibly sophisticated and professional look.

Now, most of us do not have a live-in hair stylist, so here is everything you need to know to ensure that your pony tail or any “brushed from your face“ hairstyle always looks neat and polished. 

All you need are two items: a toothbrush and a can of hairspray!

First, brush your hair thoroughly and treat your hair while you are brushing it with a styling product such as Natural Formula or Moroccanoil. Brush your hair into the style you wish .  I recommend a pony tail, especially a pony tail that is gathered approximately on level with the tops of your ears (this is also a great way to ensure that the pony tail is positioned evenly on your head).

Once you have brushed and gathered all your hair and hold it in place with a hair band.  Don’t worry about the short hairs around your face, baby hairs or fly away hairs; that’s where the toothbrush and hairspray come in handy!

Now spray a shpritz of hairspray on a clean toothbrush.  Gently brush the top layer of your hair – in straight long strokes, in the direction of your hair growth – from the root to the beginning of the pony tail.  Add a new shpritz of hairspray to each toothbrush stroke, until you have tamed all the short and fly away hairs around your head.

If you have longer hairs around the “payot” area in front of your ears, you may need to shpritz a bit of hairspray directly on this area and then brush up the hairs with your toothbrush.  Gently hold the toothbrush to this section of hair for a few seconds to ensure the hairspray "takes".

If you are wearing an updo style or high ponytail, don’t forget to use your toothbrush and hairspray on the hairs at the nape of your neck, as well.

You can then finish off and set your style with a quick light spritz of hairspray all around your head before you run out the door to your day!

Remember to keep this toothbrush with your hairspray, so it is always "at your finger tips" when you need it!

For more information on this topic and to arrange a bridal beauty consultation or bridal beauty trial session please contact me today.  Visit my site  www.thekallahwhisperer.com