Uuuh Clean It Up or Get Rid Of It!!

Posted on May 30, 2014 by queennzingha

Written by NZINGHA for ZFACEINC,nyc

Okay, those that know me well and those that are getting to know me know I HATE DIRT AND MESSY KITS!!! I love order. It’s just another form of beauty to me, an extension.

One of the things all women and beauty professionals would do best in their daily grooming habits is to clean the items that assist you in your daily grooming and application to clients. We don’t always pay attention to or make time to clean our sponges, puffs, makeup brushes and the like. Not really recognising that we may be the key in contributing to our own skincare problem!

In most of our sponges, brushes and wash towels lies a breeding ground of bacteria. So, knowing that bacteria can grow in moist and damp places it’s best to clean them frequently.

With each use, your makeup brushes , sponges , towels, mitts and puffs become coated with more than just makeup product. They all pick up body oils, dead skin cells and airborne dust and dirt. All of your makeup assistants need regular TLC and buildup prevention.

CLEANING MAKEUP FACE TOWELS & MITTS:

There are several biogradeable beauty items that have long use and can stave off bacteria. Using paper towels and other disposable set towels are great for keeping your general workspace clean as most MUA’s like to spot clean their brushes while on set by using the set towels.

Some of my personal favorite anti bacterial bamboo towels and mitts are made by a company called Hollywood Face. The towels and mitts are plush and extremely soft. I use the mitt for clients who may perspire heavily. The mitt absorbs the perspiration yet doesn’t alter the makeup during touch ups.

I usually clean these types of towels and mitts immediately after use. I buy them wholesale so if one gets soiled I immediately replace them. I usually keep 2 in my actors set bags. I wash these beauties in my FAVORITE delicate laundry wash by TOCCA.

CLEANING YOUR MAKEUP BRUSHES:

Here’s a selection of top brands of solid form brush cleaners. Honestly my absolute fave is by London Brush Company (vegan). Also it was the ORIGINAL brand to create the format of solid brush cleaners.

The beauty of the solid brush cleaners is that you can clean the brushes or sponges right in the container it comes in and simply rinse it out and allow it to air dry. It’s basically a hard soap in a tub. However of all the solid cleaners London Brush Company is that is graded by the FDA so it’s super clean and even food grade clean! 😉

Give each of your brushes a good swirl in the tub and leave them to dry. NOTE: When washing your brushes with water be sure to not allow too much water to get into the ferrule as this can loosen the glue binding the bristles of the brush and cause “fallout”. Allow your brushes to air dry flat or upside down and squeeze them back into their original shape (because the brush can loose its original shape if not shampooed and air dried properly….., see picture below).

This Brush is an example of what can happen to a brush that is not cleaned often ,cleaned with the wrong cleansers and has lost it’s shape.

SEPHORA’s Brush Cleaning Pad

Sigma Brush Cleaning Mitt

Here are a few Spray Spot Cleaning brush cleaners. I use spot cleaners inbetween the times just before I give my brushes a good shampooing. Spot cleaning is great for instant cleaning and disinfecting. My absolute fave cleaner is Cinema Secrets…why?…because it leaves my brushes scented in vanilla!!! Only drawback with this one is it may slightly stain your all white brushes. I do not use these types of cleaners on my sponges. Oh, and I have to say this cause its a pet peeve and just out nasty and germy to me is when I see MUA’s blow on their makeup brushes!!!! Ugh! Are you serious…ok saliva all on the brush…REALLY PEOPLE STOP IT!!!

CLEANING YOUR MAKEUP SPONGES:
Now my preference for cleaning my sponges is normally liquid cleaners/shampoo. I rarely use the solids for sponge cleaning. And honestly I don’t like Beauty Blenders solid to clean their own brushes!!! How crazy is that?! I like their liquid cleanser best for the Beauty Blender in fact it trumps all other liquid cleaners for the Blender outside of the world famous Dr. Bronner’s. I use Dr. Bronner’s Lavender, Rose or Baby Scent.

I use all of the shampoos for cleaning my makeup brushes as well. elf is very affordable ($3) and works well, love the simple black packaging. Johnson’s Baby Shampoo is also a fave, obviously for its detangling properties, especially for long hair brushes.

In closing if you keep your tools in good shape you’ll have them for years which equals to me less $$$ spent annually on replacing these pricy items! It just makes sense.

A Rose by any other name…

Posted on May 28, 2014 by queennzingha

*Artist Spotlight | Janice & Denise Tunnell

Posted on May 26, 2014 by queennzingha

Written by NZINGHA for ZFACEINC,nyc

An online beauty conversation with Muas and Beauty Experts Denise & Janice Tunnell. Our goal is to inspire and educate one conversation at a time. We bring the Beauty Industry to you every Sunday night at 9pm EST. …read more

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/beautytalkwithillusions#ixzz34lBJMtIB

*Artist Spotlight | Pat McGrath

Posted on May 26, 2014 by queennzingha

The Non Surgical Facelift

Posted on May 21, 2014 by queennzingha

The Skinny On Phat Lashes (Part 2)

Posted on May 21, 2014 by queennzingha

Written by NZINGHA for ZFACEINC,nyc

Ok this post is the follow up to The Skinny On Phat Lashes (Part 1) and this one was a bit difficult to compile because there were so many questions regarding mascara and the use of it.

I’ve seen so many makeup faux pas regarding this area of makeup. I mean lets face it when people look at anyone’s face the first thing really see is a persons eyes and the whole eye area. Truly this is where you have the most space on your face for artistic expression through color.

*Artist Spotlight | Max Factor

Posted on May 19, 2014 by queennzingha

Written by NZINGHA for ZFACEINC,nyc

Max Factor – The Man Behind The Make-Up

Max Factor born September 15, 1872 was of Polish Jewish decent who worked as a wigmaker and makeup artist for Russian stage productions in the late 1800s. Factor fled the east European pogroms and emigrated to the U.S. in 1902. He found himself in California 10 years later as the motion picture industry took root there.

Factor took work as a makeup and hair stylist for film stars, and in 1914 he invented “Supreme Grease Paint,” a face makeup that still exists today

Max Factor began his career as an apprentice to a wig maker. By the age of 20, he was running his own makeup shop. Before Max Factor, few women used cosmetics. Factor popularized both the word “makeup” and the use of the cosmetic repertoire.

Back in the 1930’s and 40’s, during the glory days of Hollywood, the world of movie make-up was dominated by Max Factor. Creating false eyelashes, the eyebrow pencil, lip gloss, and pancake makeup, Factor created a whole new language for big screen cosmetics.

Jean Harlow, Claudette Colbert, Bette Davis, and virtually all of the major movie actresses were regular customers of the Max Factor beauty salon, located near Hollywood Boulevard.

Inevitably, once the actresses had been made to look so stylish on screen, they wanted to maintain the same effect in everyday life, so they wore the new Max Factor ‘makeup’ in personal appearances.

Soon, women unconnected with the theatre or the film industry were asking for the makeup, so that they too could look glamorous. It was in 1927 that Max Factor introduced his first cosmetics to be sold to non-theatrical consumers.

Max Factor specialized in transforming ordinary people into dazzling stars. Its glory days were with the golden age of the movie studios, when the stars used to provide product endorsements for as little as a dollar. Their glamour rubbed off on Max Factor, and vice versa.

Max Factor developed the celebrity endorsement concept, beginning with Clara Bow in the 1920s. Since then, stars including Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner, Marilyn Monroe, Jean Harlow, Judy Garland, Joan Crawford, Jaclyn Smith and Denise Richards amongst numerous others have all represented the brand. Many of his celebrity clients also appeared in full-color magazine ads to promote his cosmetics.

The first Celebrity Makeup Ads began with Max Factor Cosmetics. The ads featured movie stars: Judy Garland, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rita Hayworth, Dorothy Lamor, Susan Hayward and a host of others.

The advertising campaign claimed that every girl could look like a movie star by using Max Factor makeup.

Max Factor is credited with many cosmetic innovations. Some of his innovations were the first motion picture makeup in 1914, lip gloss in 1930, Pan-Cake Makeup, forerunner of all modern cake makeups in 1937, Pan-Stik Makeup in 1948, Erace, the original cover-up cosmetic in 1954, and the first “waterproof” makeup in 1971.

An abbreviated timeline of Max Factor:

1914: Created the first makeup made specifically for motion pictures, a thinner greasepaint made in 12 shades. It was in cream form and packaged in jars, as opposed to the thicker stick grease paints used for theatre.

1920: Developed the “Color Harmony” principles of makeup, which held that “certain combinations of a woman’s complexion, hair and eye coloring were most effectively complemented by specific makeup shades”.

1925: Introduces “Max Factor’s Supreme Nail Polish”, a metal pot of beige-colored powder that is sprinkled on the nails and buffed with a chamois buffer. It gives nails shine and some tint.

1927: Creates “Society Nail Tint”, a small porcelain pot containing rose colored cream. Applied to the nail and buffed, it gives a natural rose color. “Society Nail White” also hits the market. It is a tube of chalky white liquid that is applied under nail tips and left to dry. The end result resembles the modern French manicure.

1928: Developed makeup, made specifically for use in black-and-white films. Max Sr. was awarded an Oscar for this innovation.

1930: Invented Lip Gloss

1932: Developed a line of “Television Makeup”, specifically to meet the needs of television.

1934: Introduces Liquid Nail Enamel, forerunner of today’s nail enamels.

1935: Opened the unique Max Factor Makeup Salon in Los Angeles.

1937: Created PanCake, forerunner of modern cake makeup, originally developed for color films.

1938: Max Factor died at age 59. Max Factor Jr. expands the family run business internationally.

1940: Created Tru Color Lipstick, the first smear-proof lipstick.

1948: Developed PanStik makeup.

1954: Created Erace, the original concealer, and developed a line of cosmetics specifically for color television’s needs. (This line remains the standard for TV makeup.)

1971: Invented the first “waterproof” makeup.

First African American Super Model to represent Max Factor Cosmetics | Beverley Johnson

Max Factor CC Creams

Thank You Max! — in Ode’ to Max Factor.

Book written about the life of Makeup Artist, Inventor, Innovator, CEO Max Factor written by Fred Basten

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/29/magazine/the-man-who-made-the-faces-up.html

Luxe Pack | Beauty Industry Packaging

Posted on May 13, 2014 by queennzingha

Written by NZINGHA for ZFACEINC,nyc
How do I begin with my day today…WHEW!!! Registering for Luxe Pack was a breeze and what a pleasure! Luxe even had a shuttle bus to pick up buyers (and return drop off) right in the heart of Columbus Circle here in New York. But I’ll tell you the truth the walk from Columbus Circle to the Pier 92 location is a straight up bummer!!! Yeah, I walked it!!! Apparently I didn’t get the memo!!! Although emails were sent out regarding shuttle transport. A WORD TO THE WISE…Honey Dumplin’ read your emails! Ugh!!

What I think I enjoyed most about this expo (this was my first time at this show) was there was no pushing and shoving, no extensive lines, totally glam yet ready for business! The beauty business!!! For those who are serious about building a brand of cosmetics and fragrances this is surely the place to be. I will make a conscious effort to return next year 2015.

At the entrance to Luxe Pack New York 2014

Something about New York business people, there’s just an air and style to the way we like things done. Mostly like it done well! Execution is the key to success in the NY market. New Yorkers are very intelligent, street smart, style conscious and savvy!

When you are at this show exhibitors are ready to assist you and whatever your cosmetic company needs are. Key phrases like turn key, minimum start ups, secondary packaging, PVC, hot stamping, hot liquid fill etc., etc., are words to remember and live by in the market place. The general minimum start up amount for individual items can begin at 2,000 to 10,000. Those are no small orders.

Here’s the bottle packaging for Nicki Minaj’s Signature Perfume line. I thought this was well executed! Bravo Qualpack!! It kind of reminded me of Gaultier’s Fragrance bottles with the frosted glass and metal embellishments. It was great designing happening here. Now I’m curious to smell the product!

So after walking the floors and seeing an endless sea a manufacturers, branders and suppliers, I’d just about laid out on the floor from sheer fatigue! But somehow I managed to run into my favorite beauty brand and the loveliest designers/ beauty moguls at ANISA International! Here I’m pictured with Designer/Brand Mogul and friend Lady Shana King.

We chatted on about all the latest coming out of the Anisa camp. Charcoal Bath Sponges and Mitts, Makeup Brush Purses (designed by Lady Karen exclusively for Anisa), makeup brushes with extraordinary handles in varied 3D textures, there were even rainbow holographic handled makeup brushes!! Incredible design and sheer artistry. BRAVO ANISA!!!!

Here’s the catalogue for the company Cosmopak the creators of the original Kevyn Aucoin Makeup Brushes. I have to say this catalogue is the most creative one I received at this show. It opens up like a book and then there are all these little perforated tabs you lift up. When you lift up the tabs you see all of the cosmetic brands they’ve designed for!! Luv it!! And it’s not just cosmetics it’s everything…bags, umbrellas, makeup brushes, perfume bottles, key chains, display boxes, containers, jars and more!!! Incredible!!

I will certainly be returning next year. Thanks to Luxe Pack for a great show!

Best Wishes,
NZINGHA

“Toss The Gloss” | 50+ Women’s Beauty Book

Posted on May 13, 2014 by queennzingha

Written by NZINGHA for ZFACEINC,nyc

This book has come at a very interesting time in the world and on the beauty stage. An interesting time in that all cosmetic plastic surgury procedures are readily available to the general public and spoken about openly on social media. In days gone by people would never engage in what would be considered private matters.

We’re now in a social media era which is full of youthful images and a myriad of “Selfie’s” to be seen. Sometimes I wonder….; what everyone thinks is so great right now will soon grow old to them and something new will replace it, to a newer and fresher updated model. And everyone who was young during a social media phase will become older too.

It was just the other day I was speaking with a friend about her turning the corner to being 40 years old. Her comments were insightful and very telling of the concerns of a generation. But now what about the ladies who are 50+? If you’re feeling a way just approaching your 40’s what about all the women 50+?!

Beauty is a huge business! I read somewhere once “A woman is thrust into a beauty contest she never even entered into.” So women of all ages, races and body types are entered in this cruel contest of what is beautiful for and on a woman. How does one empower oneself and to not feel left behind or left out of the race we never willingly entered.

The way a woman (any age woman) empowers herself is….with gaining KNOWLEDGE!

Getting a “Youth Cream”? Get smart! Dealing with the onslaught of appearing wrinkles? Get smart! Applying beautiful powerful makeup to 50+ skin? Get smart! That’s where this unique beauty book comes in chuck full of information, how-to’s and with brand and product knowledge. Written by a beauty industry mogul Andrea Q. Robinson.

Another topic that arises in this book is what is age appropriate makeup in a market where every color eyeshadow and lipstick is being developed? How does your look mature as you mature…gracefully. Embracing the fact that “Less is More” as you grow in grace.

I do agree to some degree that women at some stage relinquish high glosses for more moisture based lipsticks and pencils. However this does not apply to all women!! Women of Color (of which I am, so I can speak freely about this) are a different story. We have less issues with signs of ageing early, we just don’t age as harshly, nor do we show signs of it in our 20’s, and that’s just a fact. Of course every woman’s beauty regimen differs from household to household.

In the beauty business, models in particular; young women are warned that they have an expiration date being in your late 20’s is the cut off date. While this may ring true with other ethnic groups Women of Color don’t age as quickly ( unless we are speaking of unkempt individuals and hard living individuals), so those rules do not necessarily apply to Women of Color.

The key as you mature (any ethnic group) is moisture! MOISTURIZE!! As you get older your skin can become a bit drier and gravity begins to pull the features of ones face downward. This is why when applying makeup to the more mature set of women I always paint up and out. I always recommend all ages spritz your face with Rosewater throughout the day. It’s fragrant and moisturizes the skin. The natural oils in Rose petals have been used for centuries for its healing, calming and moisturizing effects.

Andrea Q. Robinson

About the Author
Andrea Q. Robinson is known for her many leadership positions in the cosmetics industry. She directed and served as president of several of the industry’s most outstanding luxury brands, including Ralph Lauren, Tom Ford, Prescriptives, Ultima II, Helena Rubenstein, Germaine Monteil, Alexandra de Markoff, and Bill Blass. She also served as Chief Marketing Officer of Estee Lauder and consulting CEO for a line of cosmetics in development for one of the world’s most well-known makeup artists.

Prior to her corporate positions, she was a magazine editor for Vogue, Mademoiselle, and Seventeen, where she created and reported on both beauty and fashion trends and discovered and developed several of the industry’s biggest talents, including makeup master Kevyn Aucoin.

Andrea’s mission in the beauty business has always been to help women look like and be themselves—only better. This concept has driven her creation of revolutionary industry trends and fostered her passionate interest in cosmetics for her generation. She has been recognized as an innovative business leader whose skill set has helped redefine the concept of beauty for the modern woman.

Andrea has served on the boards of Cosmetic Executive Women and The Fashion Group International and has received multiple awards such as Cosmetic Executive Women’s “Legends and Leaders” award, Womens Wear Daily’s “Marketing Innovator of the Year” award, and several back-to-back FiFi awards (the Oscars of the beauty industry) for “Fragrance Star of the Year.”

Andrea has two children and lives in New York City.

Best Reviews by Beauty Bloggers
http://thebeautifulmatters.blogspot.com/2014/04/toss-gloss-book-review.html?m=1

http://divadebbi.blogspot.com/2014/04/book-review-toss-gloss.html?m=1

On The Road Again…. (Part 1)

Posted on May 9, 2014 by queennzingha

Written by NZINGHA for ZFACEINC,nyc

Ahhh to be on a concert tour!!! Honestly there’s no other high like that in the world. The exhilaration of working on the road on what is one of the hottest acts in music or musicals is one you simply can’t duplicate! Once you’ve been bitten by the travel bug you see no reason to simply be stagnant in one place. Or at least I never did.

Those who have never worked on a tour or simply on consistently different locations be it for a Film, TV, Broadway or Concert tour will never understand the mind or lifestyle of a “roadie”.

My very first music your in 1993 was with none other than Janet Jackson on the tour simply titled “janet”. On that tour is where I truly got my feet wet in the upper echelon of the music industry. I was working with music business royalty! This is where my makeup game was put into full gear and and I had to learn quick, put up, shut up or pack up and go home.

On the road/tour the cast and crew become your family away from your blood family. You work, eat, sleep, travel and have down time with all of these people who at one time you never even knew! Now you all are one, there to help create the bigger picture which is to help entertain millions of people all across the globe!! Who knew my gift for makeup would have me in this position?! I never even saw it coming. And I had to be EXCELLENT in every capacity, it was expected of me and I wanted to give 200%!!

I met and worked with some of the biggest names in music entertainment. I worked side by side with my friend Kevyn Aucoin, lived beyond my wildest dreams and doing my passion…MAKEUP!!

Little did I know wasn’t just about me having fun all over the world and making people pretty. I was about to learn what being on a big ticket music tour really entailed (thank goodness I did have some legal knowledge because of my time in college with my minor being law, I knew somewhat about contractual law);

1) Contract negotiations, negotiating per diems, etc.
2) Confidentiality agreements.
3) Learning Tour Etiquette.
4) Preparing a huge Makeup Kit that would last me for at least 6months out of my years contract.
5) Working within a set budget
designed for the Makeup Department.
6) All the makeup to be done for rehearsals and full costume rehearsals, videos, photo shoots, tour books, CD packaging, magazines, on air interviews live in studio, any and all live appearances and more.
7) Leaving home and never being home.
8) Living out of a suitcase for about a year and a half.
9) Living on planes, private jets, tour buses and in hotels.
10) Learning to live on a set budget for myself on tour and once the tour was over until my next gig.

Here’s a clip shot by MTV (who’s hosts Bill Bellamy at that time followed us everywhere we went on tour) for the New Years Special at Madison Square Harden in New York.This was part of the finale with the song “IF”.

After this whirlwind tour with Lady Janet ;who knew the next tour and client that would be ringing the phone was going to be none other than The Queen of Hip Hop R&B Lady Mary J. Blige! Mary’s and my first photo shoot together was for the cover of the Source Magazine. I remember her saying to me after seeing her makeup fully done for the shoot “What’s your name again? Mmm I ain’t $&@#*£! Wit nobody but you and Sam!” The very next day I got a phone call requesting my services for the next 3months for Mary’s Promo Tour of “My Life”.

Wished GLAMCOR Illumination Makeup Studio was around when I was on some of my promo tours with Mary, Lil’ Kim, Tweet, Brownstone, Angie Stone, Faith Evans and a few other Ladies. Those GLAMCOR Classic Light Kit and studio makeup cases would’ve been perfect for those 3-6month promo tours!

Here’s a clip from our first European tour for the CD “My Life” on the the popular UK TV Show WORD! Mary sitting next to Simon LeBon and the band Duran Duran (who I was a fan of and loved their music).

We stopped in Washington, DC where the BET studios used to be on the Donnie Simpson video show. Mary was so shy around Donnie (cause honey he was hot with those big ol green eyes staring at you). All the Ladies loved Donnie.

In closing up this post all I can say is this if you’re going to go out on a tour just be prepared. Learn how to pack your personal cases and your Pro Makeup Kits be they small cases or large trunks learn how to organize. Learn from seasoned people in the industry about all that a tour entails and just what your role is as part of The Glam Squad.