She introduced me to the spring makeup collection (the Mad, Mad World Duo Eyeshadow and Dressed To Kill Lipstick are amazing!) and the NARSskin lineup (love the Aqua Gel Luminous Moisturizer and Total Replenishing Eye Cream) but strangely, the thing she used on me that I loved the most is something that has been around for ages and that I've just never tried:
NARS Copacabana Illuminator - $36 - is meant to do all those wonderful things that illuminators are meant to do which is reflect light so that your skin looks all glowy and luminous! I've never had much luck with liquid illuminators though, and as it turns out that's because I was doing it wrong! - I had always heard to either add a few drops to foundation for an allover glow - which just ended up making me look like a disco ball or to add it in strategic places after foundation which I always had trouble blending properly and so it ended up looking streaky. The real trick is to apply a bit before foundation, rub it in and then and when you apply the foundation on top it blends it out even more which is what gives you the glowy look instead of the weird patchy look I was getting from doing it in the opposite order!
Other awesome tip I got from Francine was on how to clean your NARS cases - they look cool and sleek but because of the rubbery type material they are made with collect dirt and powder which can't just be rubbed off. Francine suggests eye makeup remover and a cloth - not cotton balls or kleenex because they leave white residue - after wiping down with the remover, use the other side of the cloth with warm water to wipe it down again and you'll have squeaky clean cases!
Be sure to get yourself to Murale to check out the NARS Spring Collection as well as the rest of the line - maybe you'll find something old to be a new love too!
- Lisamarie -