Christmas Gift Guide for Your Best Girlfriend

Back with a gift guide for your seriously fabulous best girlfriend!

Sisters - Rosemary Clooney, Vera Ellen, White Christmas

Before I get into the details of the gift guide, I would just like to say I'm excited to be back! There's been a few changes: new look, new official name, new social media icons, an organized blog roll, and new resolve!

And now, gift ideas to go with that adorable Papyrus Two Cats with Face Masks card best given to your best girlfriend!

The Smokey Eye

Timeless - Sergio Mendes ft. India Arie

As promised, a much lighter topic for this busy busy week's first post. Who doesn't love the classic smokey eye? Here's another great tutorial by my lovely Jessica W.N. of MUAHjwn. Enjoy and have fun with your makeup. I've got more great photos from the Interior Design Show West coming soon.

Photo Shoot with MUAHjwn & Dominic de Sequera

Stéphane Pompougnac ft. Madonna - What It Feels Like for a Girl (remix)

Well, I gave you a sneak peak of the photo shoot with MUAHJwn's Jessica W. N. and now I've got the final shots from photographer (and cousin) Dominic de Sequera. These were taken at Granville Island, Vancouver. Enjoy!And a few behind-the-scenes shots with a little peek at my small role in the shoot!If it tickles your fancy to use any of these shots, please credit the photographer and attach a link. Thank you! Until next time!

Photo Shoot with MUAHjwn & Dominic de Sequera

Lavish (Deadbeats Remix) - Mark Rae

Hello fabulous people! It has been such a busy weekend/Monday. I can't even remember what I did anymore! Today after work, I went to Granville Island with my cousin and photographer extraordinaire, Dominic de Sequera, and my lovely Jessica W.N., make up guru turned model tonight, for a photo shoot.
I got to play assistant: adjusting hair, holding reflectors, making her laugh when my cousin wanted a serious shot... that sort of thing :P Here's a shot from tonight's shoot!
Check out Jessica's brand new website to see more of her work and click through to see more of Nik's work on Flickr.
As soon as I can, I'll share some more shots from tonight's session. Cheers everyone!

The Adriana Lima Look

Okay... We don't all look exactly like Adriana (and it would be a little strange if did!). But airbrushed bombshell aside, there is one thing about this picture that anyone can achieve! Her make-up! Jessica W.N. has done the tricky part for us again and put together a video of how we can achieve Adriana's look! Enjoy!

Affordable Makeup

I say a little prayer - Aretha Franklin

Happy Saturday! I received a question yesterday about affordable makeup brands. What are some good options for a lower budget? Probably all of us love to shop at Sephora, but with so many other expenses that's not always feasible!
So Jessica W.N. has kindly provided some answers about what makeup brands work well and don't completely break the bank!OOO0o0. Well, it depends what products you are getting.

For face products, I would recommend:
- Revlon foundation (Colorstay or Photoready)
- Almay loose powder
- Physician's formula ANYTHING (their bronzers, blush, powders, foundations are all natural and organic with lovely minerals and most are under $20)
- Rimmel Anti-Fatigue under eye concealer (only 4 bucks!)

For eyes:
- L'Oreal and Maybelline consistently make great mascaras, my fav cheapies are L'Oreal Voluminous with the curved brush and Maybelline The Falsies.
- Annabelle smoothliner for pencil eyeliner and also Annabelle eyebrow pencil
- L'Oreal Lineur Intense for liquid liner
- as for eyeshadows, I do believe you must spend a little more to get decent pigmented eyeshadows. Lots of people swear by the Maybelline eyeshadow quads, which come in lots of different colour combinations (4 each) and are really cheap. Annabelle's eyeshadows are also not bad. Personally I spend a little more in this area, for example on Urban Decay or Make Up Forever palettes (more pricey but if you get a GOOD neutral set they can last you YEARS).

Lips:
- Really... anything. Just browse Shoppers Drug Mart and you will be attracted to all the pretty colours and all of them pretty much do the same thing.
- CoverGirl Lip Stain pens are AWESOME
- Rimmel makes awesome gloss and lipstick!

Hope this helps!
Jessica ♥

Fresh Face for Summer

Don't Worry Baby - The Beach Boys

It finally looks like summer is on its way here! In celebration of that, I'm going to share my lovely Jessica W.N. summer look with you all! If you ever have any makeup questions or looking for product reviews or advice, you can ask me here or ask Jessica directly on Facebook! Enjoy!

Playoff Makeup by Jessica W.N.

I have lots of pictures from my recent trip to Spain to share but they need some organizing! For now, let me share something about my hometown with you: this is a hockey town. Love for our team, the Vancouver Canucks, spreads far and wide, appearing all over the city in the form of jerseys as everyday wear, flags streaming from car windows, cars painted in Canucks logos, giant inflatable Orca whales strapped to a van roof, the green men*... and makeup? YES! Makeup for all the female fans who can't grow a playoff beard (very strange tradition, yes). Check out this fun and sporty look from my dear Jessica W.N



*These are the green men. Obnoxious little buggers aren't they!P.s. If you're not a Canucks fan, be bold and sport the look! ;)

The Perfect Eyeliner

Eydie Gorme - April Showers
(It's raining here so I thought this would be a fitting song to share!)

More fabulous makeup tips from my darling Jessica W. N. Want to know her pick for the perfect black as coal eyeliner? Check out this video...

Now, I'm no expert but I can tell you what eyeliners I like to use. My makeup of choice is from M.A.C. Cosmetics. A regular in my eyeliner lineup is their Eye Kohl in Teddy. This is a soft, shimmery, dark bronze colour that I sometimes use by itself just to give my eyes a little extra definition. Sometimes I skip the eye pencils and simply use a small angle brush with eye shadow. For a darker look than Teddy, I use M.A.C. Pandamonium lustre eye shadow. It has a frosted gunmetal look with a silvery white pearl lustre... if that makes any sense! But I like to use it without any other black liner for a softer look; with liner and the black becomes much bolder.Anyways, I hope Jessica and I gave you useful reviews in the search for the perfect eyeliner! Happy eye-lining! I'm off to start/finish a big paper which, I feel, is slowly killing me! :P

Pretty Purple Smokey Eye

Stacey Kent - Isn't this a lovely day?

Ever wanted to create the perfect smokey eye? Like this:
Well you can! I must share what my darling friend Jessica W.N. has created! She is a self taught make-up extraordinaire! Here is her latest video tutorial that will show you the technique, the colours, the process, and the products to recreate this absolutely fabulous look. I hope you all enjoy!

Follow her and get updates on her latest tutorials and looks at Makeup & Hair by Jessica W.N. on Facebook.