YSL Beauty, Google Glasses & Brown Thomas Dublin - weird but interesting collaboration!

Now here's something verrrrrry cool which appeals to both the Makeup Nut and the Geek in me.

Although the Google Glass project has, as far as I'm aware, been cancelled, there are still prototypes lying around and this is a particularly clever collaboration between Yves Saint Laurent Beauté and Google Glass - a "bespoke makeup tutorial experience", available exclusively at Brown Thomas Dublin as part of their Spring Beauty Event this year.

This "complete retail experience" aims to capture makeup application through the eyes of the professional (so presumably the MUA wears the Google Glasses), allowing the person having their makeup done to benefit from the perspective of the makeup artist later on - footage of the makeover is recorded, along with a before-and-after shot, advice and the step-by-step tutorial of the personalised makeup experience.  This highly customised video footage is later emailed to the customer, along with their tutorial footage, and (even more clever) the list of suggested (YSL Beauté, natch!) products used with direct links to buy (presumably from the Brown Thomas website).

This is a genuinely clever example of a clever use of a technology for which there really weren't any hard requirements, it really was a "solution without a problem" to-date, technology for its own sake really.  I'm liking this.  I am going to book in.  It's from 11th March I believe and in BT Dublin only to my knowledge.  Fred Letailleur (YSL's North European makeup brand ambassador is on-counter on 10th March for a series of masterclasses and 11th March for the Irish unveiling of Google Glasses for Yves Saint Laurent Beauté.  Appointments will cost €35, but they're redeemable against purchase on the day.

Am intrigued!

2013: The Year in Review

I started out this post thinking I'd do a recap of the products that I discovered this year and loved, then realised, nope, Make Up For Dolls has come a long way in the last year, and I wanted to do a recap, not in a boasty way, but just as a reminder of some of the highlights - things I got up to, things I posted about, stuff that was fun and different and interesting!

Of course the absolute crowning moment for me this year was the creation of my very own red lipstick, following on from a lot of researching and back-and-forth on the subject with the fabulous folks at Cosmetics a la Carte in London.  Read all about it here.  Go on.  I'm not remotely excited about this one, still, a year on :-)

As for the rest?  Well... read on!
 

Wow Brown Ready to Glo Dark Tanning Liquid - review

Ready to Glo Liquid - DARK

Inspired by their famous professional salon formula, Ready to Glo (DARK) spritz-it-on-at-home self-tan from Wow Brown is a liquid-based product, condensed down to give the highest DHA concentration (ie the ingredient in self-tan products that turns you brown).  So in theory, it should give me a salon-strength spray tan at home...

Masked Ball Makeup (Period Makeup)

Venice Carnevale 2013 Gran Ballo Mascheranda

Here's one I forgot to post last month!

As mentioned in some (reasonably) recent Facebook posts, I was lucky enough to attend a masked ball in Venice as part of the 2013 Carnevale celebrations.  I wanted to go the whole hog, to dress up in period costume, period wig, jewellery, makeup, the lot.

Research into the makeup suggested simple; very whitened, powdered, matte makeup, red "rouge" and a stained red lip.  Minimal eyeliner and mascara, just enough for definition.  Essentially this was the same for both men and women :-)

How I track my cosmetics (Filemaker Bento)

Bento

This one might seem like an odd post, but a question I'm frequently asked (along with "how do you store everything) is "how do you keep track of everything you have"?

Actually it's a good question.  With almost 3,000 individual pieces of makeup, it's too easy to buy something I already have.  A few years ago I got fed up of the purchasing-and-return cycle when I discovered the latest purchase was already "in stock" at home!  In Ireland this can be quite irritating as these duplicate items can not always be returned, from a hygiene perspective, many cosmetics counters are loath to take items back (which makes sense).

DIY Blank Makeup Face Charts

Here's a quick and dirty post (edit: actually, no, it turned out quite waffly) on how to make your own face charts, and how to work with them.  This one is mostly for the MUAs out there who are looking for an alternative to more expensive blank face charts, but might be of interest to anyone who is makeup obsessed, or likes to catalogue or plan their looks, or fancies the artistry that goes into creating one...