Fabulous Fitness Makeover

| Jessica

Mussels and Makeup took on a Fitness Competition makeup look for the beautiful Fitness Model Ashley. 

  
Ashley- known as the “Pink Beast”- normally competes in a pink suit, but for this competition she was trying something new… green! And with a new suit color comes a whole new look. Before getting started, I had Ashley use mineral oil free skincare (side note: using a line without mineral oil is a must. Mineral oil sits on top of the skin, creating a less than ideal canvas for makeup). Then to even out the surface of her skin, I used a makeup primer. I contoured using three shades of Arbonne Perfecting Liquid Foundation- beautiful! I always set with a translucent setting powder. This step guaranteed that Ashley’s makeup would look fresh throughout her competition. 

 For Ashley’s eyes, I did bright green shadow to really make them pop. On top of the shades of green, I added lots of green sparkles! Ashley’s suit was covered in sequins, so we decided her eyes should be just as glitzy. Since Ashley would be competing on stage, I add a double row of false lashes. This technique opens up the eyes and makes them look bigger and extra fabulous. 

I decided to go pink for her lips. Bright pink is complementary to the green eye makeup and Ashley’s suit. Plus it is a nod to Ashley’s “Pink Beast” personality. 

 Ashley looked beautiful and rocked the competition. She took home a huge trophy!! Thank you Ashley for letting Mussels and Makeup get you dolled up for your big competition. I am so proud of your success! 

   
 
To view the makeup line used on Ashley, click HERE! 🙂
 

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Baubles, Beads and Beautiful Things

| Jessica

What goes better with fabulous, handmade, unique jewelry? The perfect makeup look, of course!
Mussels and Makeup had the pleasure of working with Chesley, owner and designer of Chesley Mae Designs, on her latest look book. Laura of Laura Morsman Photography captured Chesley’s trendy jewelry designs at this beautiful park in Austin, Texas. Isn’t model Jennifer Johnston absolutely stunning?! I could not have asked for a more perfect team to work with! I loved every minute of this shoot.

How to get the look:
I exclusively used the Arbonne cosmetic line for this shoot. I started with the Makeup Primer to even out the skin and get it ready for foundation application. Priming is always a necessary step, but it was extra important in this situation since we were shooting outdoors. Next I used the liquid foundation in Honey Beige. This foundation feels so light weight on the skin, but has a clean, airbrushed look to it, plus it has SPF 15. Bronzer was my best friend for this shoot. The look we were going for was very sun-kissed, so dusting all over with bronzer gives that warm, glowing appearance. Dusting over the whole face with Setting Pretty Translucent Loose Powder sets the make up and gives the face a finished look. As for the eyes, I used Linen, Smoke and Java Eye Shadows. And of course no look would be complete without It’s A Long Story Mascara!

Now for the LIPS… fabulous aren’t they? I fully lined her lips with Berry Lip Liner, then applied Iris Smoothed Over Lipstick and topped it off with some gold flaked Glossed Over Lip Gloss in Mallow.

Here are a few of the many amazing photos from the shoot. Enjoy!

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Makeover for Queens of Thrift!

| Jessica

After the lovely ladies of Too Cheap Blondes were contacted by a national magazine to contribute an article… they called me for some makeup tips and tricks before their upcoming photo shoot.

We had a wonderful time playing with all of the Arbonne cosmetics- matching foundations, learning contouring, discovering what eye shadows are best for on camera and their skin tones, and of course which lipstick shades to use. These Thrift Queens jumped right in and practiced the tips they learned.

Too Cheap Blondes Arbonne Makeover
After the makeup lesson, I finished off their looks before they jumped in front of the camera.

Too Cheap Blondes Arbonne Makeover
Cheers to these Too Cheap Blondes. Don’t they look fab?! Please check out their blog here!!

Too Cheap Blondes Arbonne Makeover

Mussels & Makeup featured in Magazine!

| Jessica

Today is an exciting day… Mussels and Makeup is featured in the first ever issue of Couture Kids Magazine!!I am so honored to have worked with these sweet kiddos and the women behind this magazine.  Take a moment to check out the issue. I did makeup for the models featured in the Giggle Berry and Enchanted Dreams articles. My interview begins on page 52.

I used Arbonne cosmetics for both photo shoots. Nothing but pure, safe makeup on these little model’s precious faces! Check out the cosmetic line here.

Until next time!
Jess

Good Green Grub!

| Jessica

I believe in beauty from the inside out. What does that mean? I mean if your skin is constantly breaking out, or your scalp is full of dandruff… chances are your gut isn’t happy. Now let’s get this straight, I am NO doctor- though Dr. Jess has a nice ring to it 😉 – but in my experience I have found my skin, hair and nails are much happier when my insides are well fed with good food. Plus I have more energy and feel all around happier.

As we speak, I am in the middle of 30 day super duper healthy clean eating journey. I fortunately do not have any strict dietary needs, so I tend to include things like dairy and gluten in my regular diet. But for these 30 days (then beyond is my personal goal) I will not be eating things like cheese, bread, pasta, wine, coffee… the items I considered to be the “good stuff” before I began this journey.

What is very interesting to me is for the past three weeks I have been without that junk and I find myself craving it less and less. I am actually looking forward to healthy snack like a green apple with freshly ground almond butter or sitting down at the dinner table with a bowl of hearty turkey chili. I feel great, my clothes are fitting better, and I even feel more awake.

My first few weeks have been full of delicious recipes. I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you!

Fajita chicken salad with avocado and salsa as the dressing:

Chicken Fijita Salad

Lemon chicken with a spinach salad topped with a homemade olive oil and lemon dressing and broccoli with toasted pine nuts:

Lemon Chicken

Turkey burger with fresh spinach and baked sweet potatoes:

Turkey Burger

And I just had to share these beautiful veggies with you! I am blessed to have wonderful friends who gifted me with fresh veggies from their personal gardens. Fresh cucumbers from Kelly and fresh banana peppers and tomatoes from Paula! Thank you gals 🙂

Garden Veggies

Remember to put lots of color on your plate! It’s yummy. I promise. Enjoy!

 

P.S. If anyone wants the recipes I can add them in the comments 🙂

Pucker Up For Summer!

| Jessica

For those of us in Texas, you know it’s summer when you spend an hour styling your hair and creating a fab face, throwing on a happy, bright colored outfit… only to head outside and be smacked in the face with 100 degree heat! Despite the three-digit temps, I love summer. I love sunshine, I love summer outfits and I LOVE SUMMER LIPSTICK COLORS!

My favorite for Summer ’15 is a pucker-worthy pink and a summery red. For a sassy summer twist on red lips, I throw on Posey liner and Poppy lipstick. I love this combo because it has a hint of a coral tone, making it the perfect shade of red for this time of year.

For my pink days, I am loving Arbonne’s Fuchsia lip liner and Camilla lipstick.

As for glosses… I can’t pick a favorite. Don’t make me. Mallow, Primrose, Calla, Cosmos, Larkspur and Mimosa… all great for summer time. To tone down the bright red or pink I recommend using Mallow or Calla. If you want the bright color to pop even more add on Cosmos, Larkspur or Primrose. Have fun with it!

You may be wondering, why does Jess love this line so much? Well, here’s why:
1) The bright, awesome colors… duh.
2) It stays on! I can do my lips in the morning and after lunch and my lips still look nice. Of course they could use a touch up, but there is still color there, and I don’t mean just gross lip liner leftovers. Helpful Tip: I always fully fill in my lips with liner for this exact reason. The color stays looking great for much longer!
3) It’s healthy. Arbonne’s lip line is certified vegan and gluten-free. Consider for a second how much lipstick you EAT! Think about it! So why put something full of animal byproducts and chemicals on your lips? It’s a good point, I know.

If you are an ingredient junkie like me… check out the complete ingredient lists for each product here.

Pucker up and enjoy summer!