Pop Quiz Time!

Hey class, it's pop quiz time! Take this test, you might be surprised at some of the answers!

1. Does your foundation truly match your skin? How can you tell?

2. How can you find out your actual skin type?

3. Does the older you get diminish your ability to wear shimmery eyeshadow?

4. How can you tell you are using the right cleanser for you skin?

Here's the good news...it's an open book test and here's the answers:

1. If your having a hard time figuring out the right shade of foundation paint a swatch of the color on your cheek. Check back in ten minutes and if you can see the makeup on your skin you are using the wrong shade. It's common for people to check foundation colors on the jaw line. The problem with that, is that your jaw line has many shadows and uneven light shown on it due to the natural curves of the face. The blending of foundation colors can therefore be deceiving. Whereas the cheek is directly apart of the center of the face and is a flat surface that sees even light. There is no hiding behind curves and shadows. It either blends or it doesn't.

2. Take your pointer and middle finger and press into the side of your nostril. Take note on what is left on your fingers. Wipe them off and then press into the center of your forehead. If what you feel is different with each press you are combination. If they are the same you will either have nothing on your fingers which means your dry or a film of oil which, you guessed it, means you are oily.

3. Many women feel that once they reach a certain age they can no longer wear shimmer on their eyes. Ladies I'm here to tell you that couldn't be farther from the truth. As you get older it is true wearing a lot of shimmer isn't the most flattering. But a little shimmer placed under the brow can actually be very pretty and very useful. The light reflected off the shimmer will give the illusion of the entire eye lid being lifted. Which is important because as we age our eye lids tend to loose not only their elasticity but because of that, their shape. And above all else, shimmer is always a pretty and feminine added touch to any make-up look!

4. Wash your face as you normally would and then let it air dry. After your skin is dry lightly press a tissue to the middle of your forehead. The tissue should then stay on your skin for about one to two seconds before falling off. If it stays longer your cleanser is leaving too much oil residue and if it doesn't stay on at all your cleanser is leaving your skin too dry.
*Call me for great cleanser recommendations!

Ok, pencils down. How do you think you did? Feel free to try the answers out and see if they work for you! Call me and let me know how it worked out!

See you soon,
Marlena Robbins
Licensed Facialist/Make-up Artist
Bree Salon, Studio City
818.508.4500

Got Milk?

I'm so excited and can't wait to share with you the craziest tip I've ever been given to exfoliate your skin at home.....milk baths!

My friend came up to me the other day and asked me to feel her skin. As a professional I of course was intrigued and felt her arm. I've truly never felt skin as soft as hers was. I immediately asked her what she did to get skin that soft and she said she took a milk bath at home that morning. She then proceeded to tell me how I could do the same thing when I got home that night.

All you do is fill your bath tub with warm water and pour in an entire package of dry milk. Soak your body for about 20 to 30 minutes and voila....irresistible skin. The lactic acid that you can find in milk is a natural exfoliant. I use a lactic acid peel in some of my facial treatments at the salon. But it never dawned on me to use it for my entire body.

After trying this tip out myself....I'm hooked! You can bet I'll be treating myself to a milk bath at least once a week!

Let me know what you think!

See you soon,
Marlena Robbins
Licensed Facialist/Make-up Artist
Bree Salon, Studio City
818.508.4500

Does cold weather mean dryer skin?

Just because the weather is getting cooler and in some parts of the country a little rainier and snowier...doesn't mean we should be forgetting to moisturize.

Skin tends to get a little dryer with the seasons change. As you adjust to a new wardrobe, your skin is adjusting to a new climate. To help your skin through this change make sure to hydrate inside and out! The more hydrated your skin is the healthier it is. And therefore will adjust that much better to any change in the weather. Drink lots of water and make sure to always moisturize your skin day and night.

A good way to moisturize your skin during the day is to use a sunscreen and moisturizer in one. Because even if the sun isn't out a lot, the uv rays are still coming through and damaging the skin. At night your favorite night cream will do the trick!

Call me anytime for great moisturizer recommendations at any budget!

See you soon,
Marlena Robbins
Licensed Facialist/Make-up Artist
Bree Salon, Studio City
818.508.4500

Could New Moon equal a new you?

The other day I had a client come in and ask me to make her look like "Bella" from the Twilight series in honor of the latest film from the saga, New Moon, hitting the theatres this week. It got me thinking how interesting it is how pop culture can affect so many aspects of our life. Including beauty.

For my client I gave her a pretty soft gray smokey eye and a soft rose color on her cheeks to give her that flushed "Bella" look. I then suggested she use her new red lipstick (after all, it is this seasons hot color!) but blot it on the lips to give it almost a blood colored stained finish. Almost as if she herself had just had another amazing encounter passionately kissing Edward!

Something tells me that the "Bella" look may be the next hot trend of the season. And as a fellow Twilight lover...I couldn't be happier.

Call me if you want to know exactly how to transform into Bella yourself by knowing what products to use and how to use them!

See you soon!
Marlena Robbins
Licensed Facialist/Make-up Artist
Bree Salon, Studio City
818.508.4500

A girl never should kiss and tell...

One of the biggest make-up mysteries out there is the mystery of how to keep color from disappearing the second they hit your lips! Well, mystery solved. And I'm going to tell you how in a few simple steps.

Step 1. Take any cream based concealer that matches your skin tone and paint it on and around your lip area. This should act as a primer for your lips filling in any fine lines surrounding that area of your face.

Step 2. Frame your lips with a nice strong line around it's border and then lightly fill your lips in with that same liner. This will act as a glue for whatever color you place on top of it.

Step 3. Color your lips in with a lip color of your choice. Keep in mind matte textured lipsticks have the strongest lasting amount of longevity.

Step 4. Apply any gloss color of your choice. Keep in mind though, any product with a slippery texture will increase the color underneath to slip quicker.

By following these easy steps you are bound to find that your lip color will last significantly longer then if you simply apply and go! Reapplying will need to take place but not nearly as often.

And being that a girl should never kiss and tell....pucker up as much as you want. Your lips will still look amazing and your secret will be safe with me!

See you soon,
Marlena Robbins
Licensed Facialist/Make-up Artist
Bree Salon, Studio City
818.508.4500

Welcome to Plucked!

Welcome to Plucked! As it is stated in the title, this is YOUR own personal beauty playground. This will be a place to learn, create and be inspired when it comes to your appearance and it's evolution. I've spent almost ten years in the beauty industry and the biggest lesson I've learned this far is that you can spend all kinds of money on products, treatments and even surgery, but at the end of the day, beauty truly does start from within. The better you feel about yourself as a person inside the more beautiful you become to the rest of the world on the outside. Remember to take time for YOU, and don't forget to surround yourself with the people you love and who love you right back as much as you can. The more you take care of your inner you, the more what you do on the outside will come through in a much stronger way! With that said, I hope you all will enjoy the topics that I will be discussing and become inspired and excited into exploring a whole new way of feeling beautiful.

See you soon!
Marlena Robbins
Licensed Facialist/Make-up Artist
Bree Salon, Studio City
818.508.4500

Lights, Camera, Action!

Not only are we about to be entering a new season where we will see a shift in the weather, we are also entering another kind of season: Award Show Season. As we tune in to these shows not only are we watching to see who will take home those coveted gold trophies, we are tuning in to see what everyone wore, who they came with (or didn't for that matter), and what kind of choices they made when it came to their overall "look". A look of course which is greatly affected by non other then the make-up. It's with these choices we start to see what trends over the next few months will begin to emerge in our everyday beauty culture.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret, those trends are chosen well before we see them in the latest fashion magazines or even on the shelves of our favorite make-up counters. The original birth of any fashion trend whether it be clothing, hair, or make-up is plucked right off the runways of all the international fashion weeks, and yes you guessed it, major award shows and other red carpet appearances. With my latest post I hope to make it a little easier for you to spot these trends and help you to incorporate some of your favorite looks in your own daily make-up routine.

The main trend to spot this season is the trend of choice. By that, I mean the major looks you will be seeing this season involve choosing which feature to accentuate. And once you have chosen this feature, make it dramatic but make it simple. Whether it be a bright red or deep burgundy lip, or even a thick application of dark eyeliner and no shadow. You will find that the extreme versions of these looks will either be a dramatic lip and almost nothing on the eyes or cheeks, or the reverse, very dark rimmed eyes and almost no lip or cheek color at all. (Sorry cheeks, no one wants to see you this season!)

For most, this look is too extreme. Here is how I would incorporate that into a look that will be far more "everyday life" friendly. First and foremost, use the colors that would be in trend but on a softer scale. For instance, if you would like your lips to stand out but a bright or even dark red is too much, stick with a gloss in that tone. Glosses tend to run on the shearer side. You will still draw attention to the lips but you won't have too strong a color. And instead of ignoring the eyes completely, opt for shadows that are more natural in tone and liners that are lighter. This way, your eyes won't be forgotten but your lips are still the main event! For the eyes, instead of the use of thick liner with little or even no shadow, feel free to draw a thinner line of eye liner around the eyes and top it off with a darker shadow for added thickness. By using this technique you will see that shadow blends into a softer finish. You will still get a dramatic look without it being too harsh. As for your lips with this look, you don't want to ignore them either. Many glosses come in a soft to almost see through tones. The shine from the gloss will show your lips off but still help to maintain your eyes as the star of the show!

And when all else fails, a pretty natural make-up is ALWAYS in trend. Soft colors that accentuate your features looks good whether your on any red carpet or any grocery store aisle. I've sometimes felt the most beautiful when all I have is clean skin, soft eyeshadow, and a light shimmery gloss.

Whatever look you choose to do this season make it YOU! Remember, make-up is another form of expressing yourself. So have fun with it. Maybe try a color you have never worn before. You never know what your new favorite color might be. And at the end of the day, make sure that whatever look you choose to do, feel absolutely gorgeous !

See you soon,

Marlena Robbins

Licenced Facialist/Make-up Artist

Bree Salon, Studio City

818.508.4500