Sure - us beauty experts say 'paws off your mug!' - but sometimes you just gotta squeeze that one zit or attack the army of blackheads. What you don't know is that you can make your skin from bad to worse as that one pesky pimple can multiply. The juicy insides of a pimple contains bacteria and when you squeeze it exploding all over your mirror, some of that can and probably will spread onto your face or a simple blackhead that you declog is now open to refill and if you aren't careful picking, prodding and poking can lead to scar tissue and/or infection.

• Before touching your face always wash your hands first with soap and water - preferably fragrence-free soap because even a hint of fragrance on your fingers can be an irritant when squeezing a zit
• Wash your face too. Clean fingers but dirty skin can still cause zits to multiply or become infected
• After you are done poking, wash your hands and face again - this is a great time to apply Dermalogica's UltraCalming relief masque to soothe your skin
• Know when to call in the experts. Underground pimples that are the size of Mt Olympus may need to be injected with dermatologist's magic

 
SKINMISO have some products to declutter your nose of unsightly blackheads and help control the oil.

The Skinmiso Pore Beauty Nose Pack is a multi-step blackhead removal that takes the old Biore nosestrips one step further - and a lot more effective from my opinion. I have tried both - if you have a blackhead problem you are going to LOVE Skinmiso.

Step 1 Remove blackheads and whiteheads with the first nose mask formulated with plant extracts.
Step 2 Contract pores with the second nose mask with ingredients such as witch hazel extract and keep skin moisturized with its patented materials.
Step 3 Control sebum and absorb oil keeping your skin smooth and dry.

For those blackheads playing hard to get you can give them a gentle push but careful! Although this Comedo Remover by SKINMISO has no sharp edges you need to handle with care. My mother had a Revlon blackhead pusher-outer-thingy when I was in high school that I almost shish-kebabbed my eyeball because my nose was too slick from oils - so trust me when I say -wash your face first! Gently press onto blackheads - don't force them - the stubborn ones will eventually come out. And wash your comedo tool with soap and water plus spray with rubbing alcohol before and after use.

SKINMISO is available through BellaBox.

Ok - so it's March 1st... PLEASE forgive me as it was my intention to have this up within the first week of every month - which means March's list will be up really soon since I need to catch up... AND my usual layout I've used on this OnSugar network is hiccuping so... little different this time. I've had so many OnSugar issues lately that I've wondered if they are fazing out their blogger extensions or whatever we digital influencers would be classified as.

So to start of the February LUST HAVE list:

Amoré by GI OTTO have these AMAZING soy-based bodycare candles that... double as body moisturizers!! I LOVE the fact that you can create a lovely spa-like ambiance and then have a serious love-fest for your skin apres your shower. I also light one now as I am doing hair & makeup on someone and offer them the chance to try it on their hands - you can get Botoxed to the nines but if you don't hydrate your hands then your age shows there...

Amoré candles are hand-poured using 100%, FDA approved, pure soy oil and burns cleaner than paraffin-based candles. Available in a variety of fragrances, our candles will burn approximately 40% longer than wax candles.

They are soot-free and do not emit harmful toxins such as Benzene into your home. Unlike wax candles, Amoré candles burns coolly at 41 Degrees Celcius into a reflective pool of soy that always remains warm to the touch and will not burn hands. Extremely safe to have around children.

The melt pool that is created upon burning can also be used as a skin moisturiser that can be massaged onto dry or irritated areas. It can also be applied as a soothing remedy to sunburns, eczema, psoriasis and poison oak.

Renee / Beauty Fool did a limited edition collaboration with Lemongrass House and my fave from Renee's Blend is the Salt Body Glow with it's Eco-friendly mixture of Siam Magnolia, Chocolate, Vanilla, Pink Grapefruit, Papaya and Coconut your body feels exfoiliated and hydrated after your shower. I love to get my body damp, turn off my shower and rub this all over - let it sit for 5 mins then rinse - kind of a mini DIY-spa treatment at home. Don't shave your legs first and then use this as it will hurt like an S.O.B. BUT using the Amoré bodycare candles right after locks in the glorious hydrating benefits from Renee's magic potion and leaves your skin feeling soft as the good silk - not that rough raw silk!

Kate Somerville Multi-Active Repair was given to me by friend and UK-based makeup artist Sital Patel who insisted I had to have it. She's just jealous that I look so young and she wants me to believe that I need this - but - ok, I do - I love it! Cheap b*tch just brought me a sample though, not a full size. I kid - I love her. She assisted me many times for next to nothing - ok, well - nothing. Our industry is awesome that way. Pay back is my four readers can click on her link and admire her work. Anyhow - off topic - habit... I had almost a week's worth squeezed out of my sample in Paris. Saved my skin in the January cold in Paris; felt lovely - hydrated without any the heaviness I feel with La Mer and SKII.

I hate this Kiehl's lip balm. Hate it. BUT I LOVE it in the pot version which doesn't seem to be on their website. I saw the pot version and thought - why not give it a whirl. It seems thicker in the pot and therefore less goopy (technical beauty word). Cheap and cheerful for my makeup kit - part of my skincare routine I apply on all my models, celebs, brides etc...

That's it. Just four. Hope you can deal. Give me a week. I'll catch up with March!

Luxola (Singapore) has sent me their latest addition to their online beauty boutique: Covet London.

Pictured are the hands of TV personality Linda Black that I took behind the scenes at our shoot yesterday. She is wearing Covet London in Confidence.

These nails are dry without any topcoat which tells you how fab the shine is and just like Jem, the pigments are truly outrageous.

From Covet London's FB page: Luxury mineral-based nail polish to deliver intense, brilliant colors without toxic synthetic chemicals and carcinogenic.

Pretty sure they meant to say: without toxic synthetic chemicals or carcinogens vs telling you it's carcinogenic. Just a little word adjustment... but who am I but a hair & makeup artist without an English degree - I am clearly not the judgmental grammar police that you find in the Twittersphere.

Update: Covet London adjusted their FB page to read: Luxury mineral-based nail polish to deliver intense, brilliant colors without toxic synthetic chemicals or carcinogenic.

[ Getting closer... ;) ]

And they called it puppy love!

Totes adorbs! The bunhead in the middle? #stuffZoiesays! Yes, I was stage mom and hair & makeup artist on this gig.

Crew credits.

I am pretty sure the mother of this munchkin was hating on the braids that day - but come on! So cute! My mother did this to me.

Bazaar Junior has a Facebook page if you care to like it.

This issue is on the stands now!

So I am doing a general sweep across the board but with the latest keywords I saw today: "Beauty Guru Burns Hair" - omg! *rolls eyes*

Guru - A leading authority in a particular field.

Let's reign in this word - shall we?

source

People: She is a poor child (ok - teen - still a child) with a curling iron mishap (not a Guru) - which apparently someone advised her that it's the TRESemme product that caused this damage. Um. No.

When a friend posted the video on my Facebook personal page asking what I thought; this was my answer:

"OMG. 1st - Poor girl! (why would she post it??)
2nd - this is what is wrong with social media - everyone wants to be an expert.
3rd - You should keep the temperature of your tongs to your hair type - her temp was obviously too high
4th - the hair should be around the tongs for an average count of 12 seconds - she had the tongs on that strand for 21 seconds."

and

"I have to say - I felt ill for her when her hair burnt off."

and

"[FYI - I always go by how the hair is feeling when I am curling hair so I just tested the count per curl - yup - 12 seconds but always adjust it for your hair!]"

This middle school girl now has an FB page that of course yahoos are jumping on with insults - which I am sure she is deleting but words hurt people and sure she has a sense of humour to put this out for everyone to see - but let's remember - she's a child. Play nice.

This for me is not about that poor girl - it is that straw.

It's like everyone with a camera phone or web-cam are suddenly experts because they own a brush.

My photographer friends liken this to owners of DSLRs - I prefer to rely on my HTC One S and Instagram.

Not long ago I was at a blogger event here in Singapore where I currently perch. During the event the bloggers in attendance began to scoop up all the display products and drop them in their bags like it was their own personal 5-finger discount. (PS: that's theft)

I. Was. Horrified.

I thought everyone knew that samples were given by the PR companies as they left (um - have you heard the term swag bag?) and the displays are the hard work of the PR companies to make the room look pretty and feature the product.

Another blogger presentation I had gone to, a group of about 10 bloggers showed up in a pack one hour late and if that wasn't enough - they giggled their way through the door.

No apologies. Loudly took  their seats. PR company started the presentation over! From the beginning. Adding on another hour to my morning. I. Was. Horrified.

Many bloggers seem to be thrust into the world of media without the knowledge of how to conduct themselves.

Frankly - life rule of thumb: Mind your P's & Q's.

Now - I am not saying all bloggers are created equal. I am not anti-blogger.

I do know some fabulous bloggers who don't regurgitate presskits and keywords supplied to them by the PR companies but those I find to be writers already.

Many magazine editors advise young hopefuls to start blogs for the experience which allows their work to grow. Why should a YouTube channel be any different?? (but just clear away your knickers and trash from the BG - we don't need to see all your business)

I think beauty blogs are great to have - it can be an outlet. It can be a building block. A stepping stone. Or they can annoy and enrage. We all use them as reference and referrals. But are they experts or beauty editors? Some, yes.

You have to do your research. If your blog is about opinion that's one thing but if it's about teaching - PLEASE learn the subject. So many times I have read or witnessed someone tell 'you' to blow on a makeup brush to get off the extra powder. NO. Don't do that. You are blowing bacteria into your brush and then applying it to your eye. Tsk tsk. Makeup artist hygiene 101.

I've started to turn down blogger invites which means my evenings may free up - but I'm not a blogger. My peers are not bloggers - well that could be argued a tad... My peers are fellow hair & makeup artists, stylists, editors, writers and yes some bloggers.

I can't speak for the events globally but at least here in Singapore there seems to be a two-tier media system  - print media, TV and some more on the porthole side of the Internet and then... [dividing line] || bloggers. Media events here don't tend to open up to hair and makeup artists unless they have a blog... but then we should be attending media events with the editors and writers we work with which equals peers.

A common complaint I hear from hair & makeup peers back home and here in Singapore:  if they want to be invited to beauty events now they need to start a beauty blog - a trick to get their feet in the door of beauty events. WHAT?! Not a long-listed editorial and celebrity resume and a $5,000+++ hair & makeup kit that we constantly reinvest in - not always with discount - WHAT?! {crescendo

Kevyn Aucoin (RIP) was quoted years ago about how he had a label-free kit. Didn't endorse any one line; had a revolving door of products. I can't remember where I saw this but food for thought.

I dropped about $800 euro on Tom Ford Beauty when I was in Paris recently. I've given them credit in my editorials here a) hoping to build a relationship and b) because I truly used the product. I sent the tearsheets over. Aside from an obligatory reply on their end - that's all she wrote. I'd get better love from them if I was a blogger.

The importance of including artists: We suggest things to magazines that we like. We use products on celebrities. We have private clients who want a shopping list of our faves and we may just have a Facebook page for sharing our work and must-haves.

Yes my rant has some slight disconnections here and there.

Recap

Poor baby girl with her hot tongs. I hope you get on Ellen for a new haircut. Rock something asymmetrical!

I don't boycott beauty bloggers or beauty YouTubers and for a little proof - here is a YouTuber who has great hair stuff.

BUT remember: Experts are experts for a reason and we will show you how to avoid burning your hair off. (poor baby girl)

My rant. My blog. But I'm not a blogger. I am a senior hair & makeup artist for 23 years and counting - from Canada living in Singapore

AClaireBeauty.com

The Dream Team were back at it again for Thoi Gian (Vietnam)
Phototgrapher: Brendan Zhang
Styling: Furqan Saini
Art Direction: Nazri Razak
Hair, makeup & nails: Andrea Claire
Model: Flavia Corrente

You may laugh at the recognition that I styled the hair on this shoot but you can't ignore hair just because a model is lying in a pool - although - yes, not a high stress hair shoot.

The nails are Deborah Lippmann Magnetic Wave in Physical Attraction available in Singapore at Luxola

We shot this last year and as I said - a little difficult to track down the PDF or hard copy of the magazine. Brendan sent me the images. Sharing is caring.
Without having the actual tears means I don't have my credits for what I used - BUT (don't cha love a big but?) I have some consistency of what I use in my work:

Skin

Dermalogica - EVERYONE in my chair gets this before we begin makeup.

Foundation

[say it with me] FACEatelier

Cheeks

NARS  The Multiple Stick in Lamu and layered with Copacabana for a highlight

Eyes

[I am 99.9% sure I had used] Tom Ford Beauty eyeshadow quad in Silvered Topaz

Lips

Urgh. Totally forget... Sorry Dudettes - I was playing more with OCC Lip Tars (available in Singapore at BellaBox) at this time so it may be a Givenchy Lipliner (LOVE them) with a Lip Tar...

Actually Sofia & Johan  / DIVA Models are both Swedish.
The blonde hair, bronzed skin, warmth of the sun made me think of Miami Vice (the TV show with Don Johnson, not the horrible movie) meets Scarface. I kept yelling out 'cocaine!'  - No, I don't do drugs. Yes, I think I'm funny.

Why models need to do yoga.

Products used on Sofia:

Dermalogica (skincare)
FACEatelier (foundation)
MAC Cosmetics (cheeks)
Tom Ford Beauty (eyes)
Benefit Cosmetics (eyes)
Ardell Eyelashes (2 pairs of wispies - one black on brown!)
NARS (lips)

Products used on Johan:

Dermalogica (skincare)
FACEatelier (foundation)
NARS (bronzer)
Laura Mercier (top secret - wink)

Hair products on both:

O&M Original Queenie

Marc Anthony Strictly Curl Lotion (I love this for round brush blowouts too - which I did on Johan.)

Team credits:

photography: Boon Chian

hair & makeup: Andrea Claire

styling: Xindi Siau

image source: me with my HTC ONE S

This is Melissa, Singaporean model/actress represented by Looque in a behind the scenes photo that I just had to share - I mean - look at that lip colour! I'll get there...

On Melissa's already flawless skin:

Skin: Prepped with Dermalogica Skin Smoothing Cream and IPSA On the Peak Eye Aesthetics - an amazing eye cream (why am I sharing this with the models - note to self: covet)

Foundation:  A combination of Dermalogica's Covertint in Medium with FACEatelier Ultra Foundation #1

Cheeks: Again with a combo, in order of application: MAC Cosmetics Posey Cheekblend Blush , Bobbi Bown Shimmer Brick Bronze in the hollows and Jemma Kidd All Over Dewy Glow in Iced Gold as a highlighter.

Eyes:
based with black|Up Cosmetics Intense Radiance Eye Shadow in ME04 from lid to brow bone and Mono Eye Shadow in MP04 at the top & bottom lash line
Tom Ford Onyx Eye Defining Pencil in the waterline
NARS Hollywoodland soft touch shadow pencil on the inner corner
Revlon Photoready 3D Volume mascara in Blackest Black

Le BIG finish:

Lips: GOSH lipliner in Pink Peony with Tom Ford Flamingo lipstick

The past couple of days I've been shooting with globe-trotting photographer David Dobson - his work is gorgeous AND he's a nice guy. See, fashion isn't just full of bitches... I kid.

Speaking of... 

Here's another behind the scenes I took from our shoot with members of [the] Collective - left to right: Angelique Nicolette Teo, Linda Black and Mohini Sule.

I know - I work with really ugly people. sigh