A Girl’s Gotta Spa! Featured in Spry Living Mom Makeover

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When Spry Living Magazine asked me if myself and two A Girl’s Gotta Spa! bloggers would be interested in making over our moms, we didn’t hesitate to say yes. Myself, Ashley and Hillary all participated in Spry Living’s Take Year’s Off Your Looks Instantly (web and print) story and Making Over Mom with tips.

Each of our moms had challenges that prevented them from updating their look. My mom had hair loss/thinning hair, sagging skin, etc. all related to bariatric surgery she had two years ago. Ashley’s mom has nerve damage and a disability when it comes to the use of her arm. Hillary’s mom was nervous since losing all of her hair so long ago (but it has since grown back.)

From skin care to hair care to makeup, here’s the breakdown of the products used to transformed our moms.

Paula (my mom): Read more

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Shannon Nelson in anti-aging, beauty, blush, bronzer, brows, concealer, DIY Beauty, eye shadow, eyeliner, foundation, highlighter, lip gloss, lipstick, Makeup, makeup tips, mascara, Nail Polish, Primer, salon, skin care 1 Comment

Brow Guru Ramy Gafni Best Brow Tips

While Gail may be the one hitting up the brow bars during her travels as a model, I’ve simply had to figure it out on my own. My biggest problem with my brows is that they are kind of sparse and I can never seem to achieve a definitive arch. I decided to reach out to brow guru, Ramy Gafni (who also has amazing cosmetics), for his expert brow tips.

Q. How do you determine how thin or thick your brows should be to best suit your face?

A. It’s usually ideal to stay close to your natural brow line. If your brows are heavy and thick, you can shape them, but keep them bold. If your brows are naturally thin, you can still create an arch. I find it’s best to take a conservative approach, follow a person’s natural bone structure and keep the brows as full as possible. Read more

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Shannon Nelson in beauty, brows, brows, Makeup 1 Comment

Laura Mercier Eyebrow Pencil Review

You may be wondering why I’m bothering to write about an eyebrow pencil. It seems like such a drab product compared to more colorful makeup like eye shadow and lipsticks. True, but if the eyes are the windows to the soul then the brows are the frame to a beautiful portrait–your eyes! It’s amazing how properly shaped, well groomed brows can make such a difference in making your eyes stand out.

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Cindy in beauty, brows, Makeup Leave a comment

IT Cosmetics Universal Brow Power Review

I’ve mentioned ~~a few~~ hundreds of times my affection for IT Cosmetics Brow Power Universal Eyebrow Pencil ($24).

I have gone through no less than 4…count ‘em…4 tubes of this eyebrow pencil. This pencil provides a wonderful solution to a real problem. Weather you have sparse, overplucked or just thinning brows, Brow Power can help. As we get older, our brows as well as our lashes get thinner. Developed with leading plastic surgeons, these brow pencils infuse a blend of brow-conditioning ingredients including saw palmetto, nettle extract, green tea, biotin, lecithin, grape seed, panthenol, and vitamins A, C, E. Your brows really do make a difference and can frame your eyes beautifully. Read more

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Cindy in beauty, brows, Makeup Leave a comment

Brows Gone Wow Tinted Brow Gel Review

For a long time I ignored my brows as part of my beauty routine. I really didn’t believe that filling them in or adding any color could have an effect on the overall look of my face. I simply thought tweezing (or sometimes waxing) them was enough. Have you ever felt that way? Read more

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Shannon Nelson in beauty, brows, Makeup Leave a comment

New! Make Up For Ever Aqua Brow

Never underestimate the fine art of grooming your brows beauties. If the eyes are the window to the soul then the brows are the…uh…. frame of the window? Yeah, that works! Seriously though, brows define your face shape and create overall symmetry–well groomed brows that is.

Beauty innovator Make Up For Ever has a new product in their fabulous Aqua line to help keep brows tamed and fashionable. Aqua Brow ($20) is a satin gel formula that is easy to apply and sets into a powder finish that stands up to harsh conditions like rain and heat. Aqua Brow is formulated with oils and carnauba was, making it smudge-proof, melt-proof and waterproof. It is highly pigmented for great color payoff. There are seven shades available, three of them at Sephora – #10 Light Blonde, #15 Blonde, and #25 Ash. I tested #10 light blonde, a great match. You do need to work quickly, the gel dries fast. Use a stiff slanted brush and apply a tiny amount of gel to fill in bald areas and define the brow shape. Since it’s a gel, it also keeps any stray hairs in place. I think this is the quickest brow application I’ve ever done–it took me maybe 20 seconds! Read more

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Cindy in beauty, brows, Makeup 1 Comment

Makeup Tips to Look Younger

It’s been a while since I’ve done a video for A Girl’s Gotta Spa! so today is your lucky day… With my 38th birthday looming ever closer, I thought it would be a good idea to share a few tips for looking younger.

(Stila, Clinique, LashControl, Xtreme Lashes, Christopher Drummond Beauty, Shiseido, Pureology)

The above are the products that I used to get the look below (although my awesome hair did not translate on camera):

Check out my video and if you love it, share with your friends! And never mind my cleavage…yes, bad shirt choice…keep focused on the words coming out of my mouth. (Pretty please.) What are some of your makeup tips for looking younger?

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Shannon Nelson in anti-aging, beauty, blush, bronzer, brows, brows, eye shadow, Hair Care, lipstick, Makeup, makeup tips, mascara Leave a comment

Brow Q&A with Christina Snead of blink in Minneapolis, MN

It seems like thicker, fuller brows are suddenly EVERYWHERE…eyebrow implant procedures are becoming more popular by the minute, so for those of us who crave thicker, fuller brows but were not born with the brows of Arizona Muse and cannot afford eyebrow implants, I decided to ask Christina Snead of blink in Minneapolis, MN for her recommendations on how to begin the process of growing our brows out. blink is a brow beauty boutique in Minneapolis that specializes in waxing/threading, makeup application and facials. Christina Snead Snead is one of the partners in beauty at Blink (the other is Brook, who is also amazing) and has been in the aesthetics for over 12 years and she is the only person I trust with my brows.

Q: First of all, how does one even begin the process of growing their brows out? Read more

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Gail Lewis in beauty, beauty interview, brows Leave a comment

Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights Chicago

Over the years I’ve come to learn that amazing beauty products are not only found in traditional beauty/cosmetics stores, but in out of the way places you wouldn’t normally consider.Â My most recent great findis Mitsuwa Marketplace.Â Â This place was recommended to me by Ji Cho, owner of Nami Restaurant in Minneapolis, MN and beauty product guru…seriously the woman is insanely knowledgeable about every and anything beauty related. Â Mitsuwa Marketplace is the largest Japanese Supermarket in the U. S. They are mostly located in California with one in New Jersey and the one I visited in Chicago. This place is awesome and carries a wide variety of Japanese groceries, general items, electric appliances and beauty products.Â They even have a bookstore as well as a food-court with fantastic Japanese food.

I went to Mitsuwa Marketplace with the intention of getting a deep conditioning treatment and a cream for my ends…I came out with shampoo, conditioner , conditioning hair treatment, cleansing face oil and brow pencil and this was after I decided to put some products back on the shelf!Â The selection of cosmetics and beauty productsÂ were just amazing.Â They had products for your hair that I never even knew existed.Â The shampoo and conditioner that I bought were both from Shiseido and they’re absolutely wonderful, very moisturizing and an absolute steal!Â I paid just $18.99 for both 550ml bottles (they were on special that day.)Â The conditioning treatment is also pretty amazing, the brand is called IchiKami and that is about all I can decipher because everything else is in Japanese.Â I love the cleansing face oil, it’sÂ very gentle on my skin but stillÂ thoroughly cleans my face without making it feel dry.Â I keep the brow pencil that I bought from there in my make-up bag at all times.Â It has two sides, one side is your traditional brow pencil with a much finer tip for a really precise application and the other side is more like a liquid liner…but for your brows.Â The pencilÂ fills in my brows, but they never look overdone and I have to wash my face to remove it because I’ve been to the gym a few times after having applied the brow pencil and it stayed put through my entire workout…and my workouts are pretty intense ones that produce buckets of sweat.

I regret not getting some of the other products I had my eyes on, like the liquid liner (my beauty guru Ji said that the Japanese liquid liners have a finer more precise tip than their American counterparts, she also suggested the fake eyelashes which are apparently pretty great.) I did discover that Â Mitsuwa Marketplace does have an online store which made me pretty ecstatic, but the selection of beauty products available online is kind of limited compared to the store, lucky for me I will be spending this summer in Minnesota which means I will have plenty of opportunity to try every product Â I had my eye on. Have you been there and discovered some great beauty brands yourself?

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Gail Lewis in beauty, brows, Hair Care, Makeup, skin care Leave a comment

Brow Review: Gee Beauty at Bal Harbour Shops, FL

It’s no secret that since moving from Minnesota to Florida exactly one year ago I’ve experienced my share of brow challenges.Â Not knowing where to go, I’ve taken the advice of other people and ended up with insanely thick and overly arched brows, as well as, brows that were a lot shorter and gave me an E.T. like appearance.Â I was resigned to either waiting until fashion week so that I could have them done by a studio I trusted in New York or magically having the finances to book a trip to MN every eight weeks to visit my usual brow studio there…neither option was very realistic, so I was relieved if not a bit anxious when I heard about Gee BeautyÂ in Bal Harbour Shops…a mere fifteen minutes away from where I reside.

Gee Beauty was founded in Canada andÂ have only recentlyÂ opened their second location in Bal Harbour inÂ August.Â As previously mentioned, I was a bit hesitant to try yet another brow studio in Miami due to my not so pleasant experiences, but myÂ anxiety all but dissipated upon a brief visit to the Gee Beauty website.Â I was instantly assured that my brows would be inÂ expert hands as soon as I saw that they offered a service called Brow 911, which is specifically designed to “rescue your brows,” I could barely contain my excitement the day before my appointment , I just knew I would leave with much improved brows and Gee Beauty did not disappoint at all.

The space is absolutely beautiful, modern, clean, inviting and very chic. Besides being incredibly attractive with gorgeous brows, the staff was really friendly and seemed very knowledgeable about the products that they carry (based on conversations with other customers that I overheard.)Â My appointment was with Natalie Gee, co-founder of Gee Beauty and brow magician…also incredibly attractive with very expertly applied make up and brows to die for.Â Natalie explained that she would be threading my brows…which I always prefer over waxing since I always tend to break out after a brow wax and about fifteen minutes later she sat me up in front of the mirror and I swear I just about teared up at how amazing my brows looked…trust me you would have too if your browsÂ had undergoneÂ any of the pre-Gee Beauty torture mine experienced.Â My brows looked incredibly well groomed, they were thick, just the right length and the arches were absolutely perfect, I could not have been happier.

In addition to brow services such as brow tinting, clean up, shaping and complete brow overhaul, Gee Beauty also offers a vast array of beauty services such as makeup application and lessons, facials, tanning, faux lash application and tinting as well as an entire menu dedicated specifically to the fellas…if I were a fella I would definitely go for a service called The Sean Connery.Â Gee Beauty also carries some pretty amazing and hard to find beauty brands such as SkinCeuticals, Malin + Goetz, Rodin Olio Lusso, St. Tropez Tan and Talika…to name a few.

With the season in Miami getting in full swing and the holidays right around the corner, I can’t help but feeling like I got wind of Gee Beauty just in time.Â I mean the brows I had before seeing Natalie would have been just fine for Halloween but I would have faced some difficulty explaining them after October 31st andÂ Â I am ecstatic that now I won’t have to.

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Gail Lewis in beauty, brows, brows 5 Comments

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