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