It is almost that most special of days, Valentine’s Day! Yes, there is a Valentine’s Day, whether we want it or not. Now, if you and your special Honey Bunny are headed out for a night on the town, this is your chance to just bling it on. I recently wrote about glitter in my December post, you can read that post here.
This is a wonderful time of year to shine and to enjoy some sparkle. How much sparkle you wear is up to you. Your age is not a factor, it all depends on your comfort level. If sparkle makes you happy, wea
r it. If it makes you uncomfortable, leave it in the shop.
The key to wearing sparkle is to keeping it where you want it, not allowing it to migrate to places unknown. I really dislike finding bits and pieces of sparkling matter on my face when I explicitly put it on my eyelids. So, what to do? Apply the sticky stuff, wherever you want the sparkle to stick, and stay. Powder the other areas.
Start with a sticky eyelid primer, something such as Tarte Clean Slate or MAC Paint Pot in Painterly. Add a sparkle cream shadow such as Bobbi Brown’s Long -wear gel sparkle and then, if you’re very into the glitter, go with Urban Decay’s Moondust shadow. When putting a powder sparkle/glitter shadow onto the lid, be sure to pat it on. Use a brush that will pick up the shadow and lay it where you want. I use MAC’s #239 brush. If there is a lot of sparkle, pack it on, don’t brush it on. For a shimmer cream shadow, try using your finger. Fingers 
warm the shadow up and it will lay easier. I love Shiseido’s Shimmering Cream Eye Color. This is a beautiful shimmer cream shadow that is very subtle, but when the light catches it, the sparkle is stunning.
If you want to glow and light up a room, use a matte shadow on your lids and then use a glowing highlighter on the tops of the cheeks and over the brow. Use a matte contour and blush, then top it off with a glowing highlighter. Check out Becca’s Shimmering 
Skin Perfector. This product comes in three different formulas, pressed, poured and liquid. If your skin leans towards the dry, try the liquid, for oily complexions, go for the pressed. All of them are fabulous and will give you a beautiful luminosity. I recommend limiting your sparkle to just this highlighter if it is during the day. For night time adventures, you can amp up the b
ling and use this on your checks, brows and then go with a little shimmer on the lids.
Finally, for those that are just now wading lightly into the sparkling waters, go with a shimmer lip gloss. You can use your favorite lippie, then top it off with a shimmer lip gloss. Bobbi Brown makes several wonderful cho
ices. You can find them listed on the Bobbibrown.com website under “High Shimmer Lip Gloss” Who knew? Or, you can click HERE. All of these are fabulous for any age and any skin tone.
An easy rule to follow for sparkling makeup is to follow the sun. If this sun is high (such as noon or early afternoon), go light, as the sun goes down, the makeup can get darker.
When you are finished with your face, use a finish spray such as MAC’s Studio Fix, or Urban Decay’s All Nighter Long Lasting Makeup Setting Spray. Use this before you finish dressing because you need to spray it on your face and it isn’t good to get it on your clothing.
No matter where you are headed this Valentine’s Day, who you’re with, or what you’re doing, be comfortable with who you are, and love the one you’re with.
don’t use the right products, you may end up with glitter all over your face, and, more than likely, that’s not the look you’re going for.
ular spot for maximum glitter and if you’re not careful, you may end up with a lot of fall-out. Fall-out is when the pigment of the product you’re applying does not stay where you want it. Instead, it goes all over your face where you don’t want it. Glitter is exceptionally prone to fall-out, ending up under your eyes and on your cheeks, not on your eyelids.
is to make it stick. You can use a sticky eyelid primer such as MAC’s Pro-Longwear Paint Pot. I use the color “
onto your brush and then lay into the glitter. It is important you do not get glitter in your eye, please be careful and do not get glitter in your eyes!
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a fan brush! I recommend this palette for people with light to medium skin tones. For a less expensive sparkle on the tops of the cheekbones, over the brows and on the cupid bow, I suggest checking out Burberry’s single eye shadows, several work well as a highlighter. If you’re in the Walnut Creek, California, Nordstrom, ask for Susie Dragoni, she is an expert when it comes to anything Burberry Cosmetics.
If you’re looking for a highlighter that shimmers and glows, instead of the sparkle, check out 
“Bellini” and “Pink Tulle” are gorgeous You can keep the sparkle and shine off the eyes and cheeks, but still have a festive look with a shimmer lip gloss.
but I will tell you it is lovely on dry skin. This is a serum that melts easily into the skin. There is no oily residue and no stickiness, it just leaves the skin soft and ready for the next step.
is gentle and works well with my Clarisonic. It is slightly creamy and does not leave my skin feeling stripped or dry. I started using the
ilicone does not give me a problem, many cannot tolerate silicone in their cosmetic products. This primer is oil-
re beneficial to the skin. Some of the ingredients are vitamins A, C and E, which act as antioxidants that protect the skin from harmful, aging effects of the environment.
n is to pat, not rub. This is a water-based, pore minimizing primer. Lorac also makes a good pore minimizing mattifying primer called 
makeupandwine 