From the desk of Jhenelle Neon: Whats in my makeup Bag ???

1. YSL 24 Hour Foundation with Sunscreen

This new 24-Hour, full coverage foundation instantly blurs pores and fines lines, and provides uninterrupted flawless wear that looks and feels just applied, all-day. No-touch ups required. I use the shade mocha in the summer time and Honey in the winter.

All Hours 24-Hour advanced formula won't cake, dry, flake or fade. Transfer-proof, oil-free and non-pore clogging, this foundation stands up to makeup meltdowns by combining move-with-you flexible pigments and skin-loving ingredients for better flawless coverage and skin that feels fresh and comfortable day to night.

Instantly blur and erase imperfections, pores, dullness and unevenness. Skin looks flawless up to 24 hours thanks to the highest concentration of ultra-fine, oil absorbing pigments that cover and smooth perfectly yet resist fading, heat, humidity, dryness and touch.

2. Shea Moisture Makeup Removing Wipes

I’ve used these makeup wipes for years, and if you’re an avid reader of the blog or one of my clients you probably know how much I love them!!! The Shea Moisture Makeup removing wipes are one of Allure’s Best of Beauty picks for 2017. Allure’s editors try thousands of products and announce the best of the best, mass and prestige, every October. (It’s kind’ve a big deal!) These makeup wipes are so gentle on the skin and remove every trace of makeup, even waterproof mascara. It’s easy to see why they made it into Allure’s Best of Beauty picks this year.

3. Gloss Bomb By Rihanna

An ultimate, gotta-have-it lip gloss with explosive shine that feels as good as it looks. I love anything with Shea Butter in it! I use the shade FENTY GLOW!

This universal lip luminizer delivers explosive shine in three shades that flatter all skin tones. One swipe of Gloss Bomb’s XXL wand leaves lips looking instantly fuller and smoother. The non-sticky formula is super shiny, and has an addictive peach-vanilla scent you just can't get enough of. Rihanna was obsessed with creating the perfect gloss that makes you want to put it on over and over again.

“I made it because I wanted the girls to get kissed more.”—Rihanna, Brand Founder

4. La Mer Sheer Pressed Powder

If you’ve been a reader on the blog for awhile, you probably know how much I love the La Mer Translucent Loose Powder. When they released their Sheer Pressed Powder I was so excited, because it’s perfect for traveling! This powder has all of the same blurring effects as the loose powder, but it’s so compact and mess free. That’s exactly what to look for when packing a travel makeup bag!

5. Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Luminous Color

This product has become my holy grail bronzer ever since I first tried it on my channel. I have the shade deep and it’s absolutely amazing for warming up my complexion. I use this bronzer almost every single time I do my makeup, I seriously couldn’t travel without it!

6. Pérsona Cosmetics Identity Palette ($32)

Of course I can’t travel without my Persona Cosmetics Identity Palette, it has every shade I need to create eye looks for day or night.  The twelve warm buttery neutral shades compliment my brown eyes so well and blend so effortlessly on the lid. This palette is also great for travel because it’s so compact and fits perfectly in my makeup bag. It’s definitely at the top of my travel makeup bag essentials!

7. Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentrè

This should have been NUMBER 1! It’s so important to be applying and moisturizer on the daily, and this Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentrè  is absolutely amazing. It’s great for sensitive skin and is so lightweight! 24-Hour Miracle Cream The must have product for makeup artists, models and celebrities. A cult favorite that has found its way onto countless photo shoots, television and film sets internationally. This creamy lotion is three products in one: primer, moisturizer, and make-up remover. Its formula remains extremely simple and effective with nourishing ingredients that restores the skin’s natural glow and gives a boost to tired dehydrated skin. Non oily so it sits perfect under makeup. Great for the whole body!!!!

8. Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara

This Too Faced mascara is a great product to take with you on your next trip! It creates such a thick, long, voluminous lash look that really opens up the eyes. I love wearing this with a full face of makeup, but it looks just as beautiful on the lashes with minimal shadow. I can’t say enough good things about this mascara.

9. Bobbi Brown Extra Lip Tint

This is another product I’ve raved about endlessly over the past few months, and it’s the best lip balm with a sheer tint I’ve ever used! When I’m not sure what lip product to wear, or my lips need a boost of hydration, I always gravitate towards this product. It’s a lip product that I always am glad is in my makeup bag.

How To Clean Your Makeup Brushes

We paint, contour, and flush our faces with makeup brushes every day, but how often are those brushes being cleaned after the fact? Turns out, not enough. (Shocker.) According to dermatologists and makeup artists, we should be sudsing up our tools on a weekly basis — at least — in order to prevent bacteria buildup, which can ultimately led to unwanted breakouts. We here at Neonfix have to clean our brushes after EVERY client. We are a bit OCD. Read on to find out how to clean up your makeup brushes the right way.

First of all, how often should you clean your makeup brushes?

Most dermatologists will tell you to soak your tools, especially foundation and concealer brushes, once a week — at minimum — to prevent product buildup. Because these brushes are used on your face, the cleaner, the better, says Bobbi Brown. "Brushes that are used around the eyes should be cleaned at least twice a month," she says. "All others can be washed once a month." We definitely think you should wash weekly if not daily.

According to makeup artist Ashleigh Ciucci, soaping up your makeup brushes regularly can extend the life of the bristles and make for a better makeup application. "Brush hairs and sponges are porous, so they hold onto oils, debris, and bacteria," she says. "If your brushes are dirty, your application will be spotty and blending will be difficult."

What should you use to clean your makeup brushes?

The best (and most thorough) method for cleaning your tools requires only water and either a basic shampoo (nothing with too much protein /keratin which can stick to brush hairs and make it difficult to apply product.), gentle soap (regular soap formulas can dry out the brush's bristles, especially if they are made of natural hair) or brush cleanser. (Easy, peasy.)

How do you actually clean the brushes?

Follow these seven steps for cleaner, good-as-new brushes and blenders.

1. Wet the bristles with lukewarm water.

2. Place a drop of makeup brush cleanser, shampoo or soap into the palm of your hand.

3. Gently massage the tips of the bristles in your palm.

4. Rinse the bristles.

5. Squeeze out the excess moisture with a clean towel.

6. Reshape the brush head.

7. Let the brush dry with its bristles hanging off the edge of a counter, thereby allowing it to dry in the correct shape. Never let your brushes dry on a towel — the bristles can become mildewed.

Mid-wash, keep the base of the brush head away from soap and water. The bristles are glued to the base, and water and detergent can cause the glue to disintegrate and the bristles to come loose and shed. Do not dry vertically — this will cause water to leak into the ferrule [the piece that joins the bristles to the wand], which will also loosen the glue and lead to bristle loss.

Do you recommend any makeup brush cleaning products?

Three products stand out: My personal favorite is the Mac Cosmetics Brush Cleanser, the 2X Sigma Spa Brush Cleaning Glove and Vera Mona Color Switch.

-Jhenelle Hill

Beauty Diaries: How I Got Rid of My Under-Eye Dark Circles in One Week

I’ll be completely upfront with you: I’m the type of person who will get under-eye circles and bags almost immediately if I’m not caught up on my Zzz’s. Whether I’ve had a late night out with girlfriends or have been burning the midnight oil for work deadlines, my eyes are always a dead giveaway for how much sleep I’ve been getting (or lack thereof, for that matter). I recently started noticing how tired my eyes were looking in photos, and wasn’t happy about it… So, I decided to do something about it. A beauty experiment, if you will! After all, they say your eyes are the windows to your soul, and no one wants such an important facial feature looking run down, fatigued and dull.

After a bit of research and a week of trying out five different tips and tricks, I’m pleased to say that my experiment worked and my under-eye bags had mostly vanished. I’ve been receiving compliments everywhere I go on how rested I look (probably because I am!), and those who know me best (like my mother) have told me I should just keep doing whatever I’m doing because it’s making my eyes look brighter. Pretty cool, right? Little did I know how much of a difference a few extra hours of sleep each night, upping my h20 intake, and a natural beauty remedy or two could make in my appearance. Here are the five easy things I did to get rid of my under-eye bags and dark circles…

What I Did…

1. Changed My Bedtime.

I know this sounds obvious and it’s because it is… But this first tip is the most important if you really want to change how well rested your eyes and skin look. Ready? Here it is: Get. More. Sleep. In retrospect, I now realize I was racing through life with an average of about six hours a night. Take a look at the “before” photo above to see the effect this had on my eyes and skin. I would busy myself each night with emails, events or unimportant to-dos around the house until about midnight when I would force myself to get in bed. And I would then wake up at 6am to make sure I got my workout in, and would stay extremely busy all day until midnight. Then the cycle would repeat. I was doing this to feel productive, and on the one hand it worked, but at the end of the day I ended up feeling more fatigued because I wasn’t prioritizing sleep. Nobody’s body can perform to its best ability if it’s run down all the time. So, I made a huge effort to be in bed between 8:30 and 9:30pm every night. You read that right—every night. I was fighting off a cold at first, so I found I really needed that extra sleep, but even after recovering, I continued to get in bed around 9:30.

At first I found myself feeling antsy being in bed so early, but by the third night of doing so, my circadian rhythm had changed. I found myself naturally waking up with the sunrise and getting tired after sunset. My bedtime became natural. I also had more stable energy throughout the day and didn’t feel like I needed caffeine to keep myself awake. Which brings me to my next point…

2. Replaced Coffee with Green Tea.

Ever heard of adrenal fatigue? I was basically a walking example of it. This condition is common in us millennials—it’s a state of lethargy and stress brought on by overexertion and overworking. And, as I’m sure you can imagine, caffeine consumption does not help here. So many of us rely and even depend on our morning cup of coffee to perk us up after a night of little sleep, when, in reality, getting the extra sleep is all we really need to feel energized. In order to stick with my goal of getting more shuteye each night, I vowed to swap out coffee for green tea during my experimental week. Green tea has a bit of natural caffeine, but it’s much lower than coffee and left me with a more stable, less buzzy energy boost after drinking it. This was a hard one for me to do, but I noticed that it helped tremendously with my goal of sticking to a bedtime and sleeping all the way through the night.

3. Upped My H20.

Not only was I sipping on green tea during my week, I was also chugging water. We’re talking 3 liters a day. (I’m a very active person, so this amount was right for me but it might not necessarily be right for you. Click here to find out how much water you should be drinking daily). I stole this little tip from Lauren herself: The way I “tricked” myself into drinking enough water each day was by making myself drink one liter before each meal. So, I would drink a liter of water before breakfast, a liter before lunch and a liter before dinner. Easy-peasy. By day three of doing this, not only were my under-eye circles way lighter, but my skin looked fabulous and my pores even looked a little smaller, too.

4. Cooled Off with Cucumber Slices.

This trick seems like an age-old cliché… The kind that brings to mind 1960s magazine photos of glamorous ladies lounging poolside with cucumber slices on their eyes. But let me tell you—it works. These tricks stick around for decades for a reason! Cold, freshly cut cucumber slices not only feel amazing on tired eyes at the end of the day, but they also act as a cold and hydrating compress, decreasing inflammation in the puffy or tired skin around eyes. During the seven days of my experiment, I put cold cucumber slices on my eyes every single night about an hour before crawling into bed. It only took 10 minutes of my day, and I found it to be such a lovely little self-care treat that I’ve been doing it ever since. I have been so happy with the effect it has had on me mentally and physically, that I’ve made it a regular staple in my nightly beauty routine.

5. Cut Out Refined Sugar.

Now, this one was more to help my skin overall, but it is worth mentioning. Cutting out refined sugar is something I did when I went on my two-week skin cleanse (read more about that here), and I loved the results I got from it. This little dietary tweak helps to decrease inflammation in the entire body including the skin, which happens to be our largest organ. In short, sugar basically makes our skin age faster because it promotes an environment where collagen (the stuff that makes our skin dewy and plump) is more likely to break down, our immune systems don’t perform as well, and we aren’t as capable of fighting off bacteria (NY Mag). Knowing all of this, I cut out candy, sweets, sugary drinks, even “healthy” sugary foods like granola and coffee sweeteners for a week. It’s incredible how quickly this seemingly small change can have on one’s skin. While my under-eye bags were lightening up by the day, my complexion started clearing up simultaneously too!

P.S. I also started using a new facial oil during my week that I have become completely obsessed with. It’s called Shea Terra Organics Rwandan Maracuja Facial Oil and you can buy it here. I highly recommend it as I believe it helped contribute to my clearer, brighter skin.

Why It Worked…

It’s pretty amazing to look at my before and after photo and see the magic that these tips worked on my under-eye circles, not to mention my overall skin. I was even surprised by it myself when I saw the two photos together! If you look closely, the muscles in my face even look a little more relaxed in the second photo, and the whites of my eyes are way whiter. I didn’t realize that I was walking around with semi-bloodshot eyes all the time, and now I know I can blame it on the aforementioned lack of sleep and adrenal fatigue I was subjecting myself to. Now that you see the results, let’s dive into why this worked so well…

The sleep part of my experiment was pretty self-explanatory, but it was still amazing to see how quickly it changed my appearance. Basically, when we don’t get sleep, our body “traps” fluids under our eyes because the muscles have been overused by being awake for too long without resting. It’s our body reacting in an anti-inflammatory way, but it results in puffy eyes. So, to put things simply, getting more sleep cures this! I know it’s obvious, but this factor was the most effective during the week of my experiment. And I’ve been so much more motivated to get more hours of sleep each night ever since. Hey, they don’t call it beauty rest for nothing.

Upping my intake of water (and green tea, which I replaced for coffee) was the second most effective factor in noticing these changes. When the body is well hydrated, there is less chance of water retention that can cause our under-eye areas to swell or get puffy (Top 10). Avoiding dehydrating caffeine drinks and drinking more water combats this under-eye puffiness, and I sure noticed it.

As for the cucumber slices, this water-rich veggie has enzymes and astringent properties that help reduce inflammation, tighten the skin, and hydrate—which is why this at-home mini spa treatment helps get rid of wrinkles and dark under-eye circles. I also truly believe that adding cucumber slices to my nightly beauty routine helped me to relax and unplug before bed, which therefore resulted in my getting a better night’s sleep (And therefore, brighter eyes! It’s a domino effect, you see…). As I mentioned above, I loved this part of my routine and have been doing it ever since.

Overall, my weeklong experiment was a huge success, and the main lesson I learned was how important sleep is for not only my appearance but also how well I function in my day-to-day life. This was a wakeup call of sorts… Pun intended. There were so many other positive ways getting more sleep affected me in my work and personal life after this week, but I’ll save those for my next Beauty Diary post…

Do you have any tried-and-true tips for getting rid of under-eye bags and circles?

If you do, please share them in the comments below. I’d love to read them and try them out myself.

xoxo
Jhenelle Hill

How To Nail "No-Makeup" Makeup — According To Alicia Keys' Artist

PHOTO: STEVE GRANITZ/WIREIMAGE.

There are makeup artists known for unapologetically bright lips, over-the-top contouring, and bold geometric liners. And then there's Dotti, who is better known for creating makeup looks in which the makeup itself is impossible to detect. An industry vet, Dotti has worked with Emma Watson, Cate Blanchett, and Alicia Keys — not that you'd ever know it.

So how exactly does the queen of no-makeup makeup accomplish that natural afterglow effect? First, by extending her job title beyond just "makeup" artist. The majority of Dotti's work is actually in skin prep. She starts by tapping on serums (Eminence Citrus & Kale Potent C+E Serum), massaging in face oils (MV Organic Skincare), and spritzing on face mists (Avène and La Roche Posay), all in an effort to increase circulation and give skin a natural radiance.

Then, she chooses products that work with the skin, not against it. "I look for products I can break down with my serums and oils, so they become a part of the skin instead of sitting above it," she tells Refinery29. After sweeping on her final touches of makeup, the pro relies on a jade roller and mists of thermal water to melt it all together — all while simultaneously stimulating the skin to maximize that flush.

See precisely which cosmetics make up her tightly-edited makeup bag — and the complexions of seemingly bare-faced celebrities — ahead. Then get ready to mist, tap, and roll your way to your most natural makeup look yet.

I saw it on YouTube

YouTube has cemented itself as the go-to source, when you want to learn just about anything. If you’re like many women, it’s where you get all the best beauty advice. As a beauty professional and licensed cosmetologist, I’m constantly looking for new techniques and product reviews, but there’s just some sh*t you can’t learn on YouTube.

Excuse my language, and understand, I’m not a YouTube hater, in fact, I love YouTube. However, a lot of things beauty should not be tried at home. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it is not wise to perform chemical services on your own head without supervision. This means relaxers, colors, perms, keratin treatments, etc.

Any service that relies on even distribution of product, and works on a limited amount of time, is a bad idea to try at home. The process of rinsing your hair will most likely cause toxic chemicals to run over your face and/or body but worse than that, there’s a good chance you missed a spot. Missing a spot could mean you didn’t put enough protective cream on your scalp, now you have a burn. Missing a spot could mean you have a huge patch of uncolored hair. Missing a spot could also mean you didn’t rinse properly, now you’re… missing hair in a spot.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with trying a beauty product and risking a rash, or attempting a haircut and looking like Cynthia Pickles, but there’s something hugely wrong with chemical burns, missing hair and horrible color.

THE "RARA" LASH FROM LASH FIX NYC

MUA: Jhenell Hill

Photo by George Chemas

How BOMB Does the “RARA” Lash look on Goddess model Yo Akalu_ 💣💣💣 ??? Lashes by Lash Fix NYC Duhhhhh www.lashfixnyc.com Airbrush by Kett Cosmetics The Idea: Take your Mink lash game to the next dimension! Undefined 3-D angles and infinite facets. A divine meeting between your inner energy and your outer Glam Goddess. .

What is a Lash Lift???

Only the newest trend to hit the beauty industry! Similar effect to natural lash extensions except using your own lashes.

Have super straight eyelashes? Here’s an end to curler cramp. “A lash lift is the modern version of a lash perm,” says Toronto’s Pretty in the City salon founder Veronica Tran. The treatment uses thioglycolate—an ingredient that is safe when handled by a pro—to break keratin bonds at the roots of the hairs so their shape can be molded. A technician applies the solution while lashes are curled over a silicone pad for approximately 10 minutes. The curl can last up to eight weeks, says Andrea Starr, founder of the Boston-based Starr Beauty Studio.

If your in NYC your gonna wanna check our partner Bling Lash or for a more dramatic effect try our Lash Fix strip lashes

www.lashfixnyc.com