1. YSL Touche Eclat: this award-winning highlighting concealer makes dark circles, fine lines and signs of fatigue virtually disappear so you look rested and refreshed—even if you’ve been up for hours.

2. Makeup Forever Aqua Eyes: A highly pigmented, waterproof liner pencil that glides on like butta!  The black is SUPER black!

3.Benefit Brow Zing: The kit comes with a brow wax, powder, mini tweezers, mini angle brush and mini blending brush.  Your easiest way to perfect brows!

4. Tarte LipSurgence Lip Tint: I love both this version and the matte one, but the original Lip Tint variety leaves your lips feeling oh-so moisturized while giving you a sheer pop of color.

5. Face Atelier Ultra Loose Powder: is a micronized, double sifted powder that feels so beautiful on the skin.  Reduces shine and minimizes pores all day!

1. Osis Dust it: A mattifying powder that gives lightweight texture and is AMAZING for fine hair.  Sprinkle a little at the root + tease= major lift!

2. Tresemme Tres Two Ultra Fine Mist Hairspray: This lightweight flexible hairspray is a drugstore treasure!

3. Moroccan Oil Intense Hydrating Mask: Leaves hair super shiny while enhancing your color.  It smells so delicious!

4. Enzo Milani Clipless Irons: You wont find better technology out there when it comes to curling irons than Enzo Milano. Once you get the hang of using the clipless design, you’ll be able to style your hair in record time!

5. Paul Mitchell The Detangler: Great for fine and color treated hair, this classic is unmatched in taming my natural dreads!

1. Bliss Oxygen Mask: A quick pick-me-up for dull, tired skin. This mask delivers oxygen, Vitamin C and antioxidants to your skin  and it feels kinda cool when it starts to bubble and turn into foam on your face!

2. Philosphy Eye Hope: This multitasking eye cream helps to reduce the look of fine lines, dark cirles, puffiness and dehydration.

3. Amore Pacific Enzyme Peel: An exfoliant gentle enough for daily use.  Leaves skin feeling silky smooth.

4. C.O. Bigelow My Favorite Night Balm: Not really a skin product, but close enough.  This lip balm is a winner!  I’ve never used another lip balm that works as well or as fast.

5. Makeup Forever Sens’Eyes: This incredibly gentle makeup remover tackles even the most stubborn waterproof formulas.

Our team absolutely loved working with Katie and her family!  Everyone was so fun and relaxed, especially the bride!  We wish her a happily ever after!  Check out the amazing and kind review she left for us here.

Location: Lanikai/ Private Estate

Photographer: Laura Fleming Photography

Location: Sunset Ranch Hawaii

Photographer: Rachael Robertson Photography

1. Take Time To PRIME! Your biggest defense against a mid-day meltdown is an often skipped step: Primer.  It doesn’t take much of this stuff to get you covered.  For Oily skin, choose a mattifying, silicone based formula such as Makeup Forever All Mat.  For eyes, you really cant beat the staying power of Urban Decay Potion Primer.

2. No Two Areas Are Created Equal: And therefor no two areas require the same amount of foundation coverage.  Heck, some areas of your skin may not even need any foundation at all!  Think about; the less makeup on your face, the less there is to slide off!  Analyze your face to determine where your trouble areas are.  Start with the tiniest amount of foundation on those areas and blend out.  Step back and take a look to determine if you need any more coverage else where.  You may just need to use what’s “leftover” on your brush or sponge (ok, fingers too!) for the other areas.

3. A little goes a long way. Just as you should use your foundation sparingly, so should you when it comes to under eye concealer. You want to use a thin layer of a densely pigmented formula only on the dark areas under your eye.  I prefer to use a color correcting concealer such as Eve Pearl Salmon Concealer.  The orange color helps to neutralize, not just cover, your dark circles.

4. Don’t Skimp on the Liner. One of the biggest concerns of my clients in melting eyeliner.  I have yet to meet a woman who is a fan of the raccoon look.  This is where the saying, “You get what you pay for” really comes into play.  Investing in a quality eyeliner will keep you from looking like a crazy chick after a week long bender.  Whatever your flavor, there’s great stuff out there for everyone.  For those of you that like to use gel liners, Bobby Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner is fabulous.  For you pencil types, Makeup Forever Aqua Eyes really rocks my world.  For fans of liquid liner there is Shiseido Automatic Fine Eyeliner pen.

5. Waterproof, Waterproof, Waterproof! Let me say it again….WATERPROOF!  The partner in crime to your melting eyeliner in creating the oh-so-fabulous (NOT!) raccoon look is melting mascara.  Any sort of moisture will have you saying bye-bye to your mascara.  Waterproof formulas are a must.  My fav is the ever so popular Loreal Voluminous Carbon Black Waterproof Mascara.  I use this on myself and all of my clients.  This is one of my “deserted island” must haves!

6. Keep Em Blushing. Cant seem to get your blush to stay put? Cream blushes are your answer.  Whether you use it alone or with a powder blush on top, creams will give you the staying power you seek.  It doesn’t matter which method you use, just please don’t skip this step!  Blush will give you that fresh glow that everyone wants.

7. Stains are a good thing… when it comes to your lips. Statistics show that women ingest about half of the lipstick they apply.  Everyone in unison………ewww! Stains look fresh and stay fresh throughout the day.  A winner in my book is Tarte LipSurgence Natural Matte Lip Tint.  This matte formula is great alone or you can throw some gloss on top to change it up.

8. Powder Makes it Perfect. Finishing your look with a top coat of powder is sure to keep your makeup on lock down.  Use a colorless formula; remember less makeup, less melting.  The key is to use a really light hand and a large fluffy brush when applying.  Too much product and you’ll look like Casper.  I like the Makeup Forever HD Powder applied with a Sephora Professionnel Platinum Natural Rounded Powder Brush #41.

The first thing that drew me to the line was the fact that its not only cruelty free, its also 100% vegan.  No animal ingredients means lower chance of an allergic reaction.  OCC states on its site, ” We pledge never to use animal-derived ingredients (including Lanolin, Beeswax, Carmine and more) in our products and accessories. Beyond any personal convictions, we simply believe that it’s unnecessary, especially when there are alternatives that are just as readily available, and equally effective in the formulation of our products.”   Gotta love being friendly to our furry friends!

Another reason I am madly in love with this line is for its incredible finish.  OCC calls it a “natural matte” finish.  It’s neither too matte or too dewy, but perfectly in the middle.  Overly matte skin doesn’t translate well on HD formats and an overly dewy finish doesn’t really work for people who need to look their best for 12+ hours, such as brides.  OCC  Skin gives you the best of both worlds.  It can be applied sheer for a light coverage and can be built up for more of an opaque coverage.  It is so lightweight and breathable, you don’t feel like your wearing anything at all!  Being 100% oil free makes OCC Skin great for oily and acne-prone skin as well.

For more info or to check out OCC’s fabulous products, visit http://www.occmakeup.com