Bringing out the soft side of an American beauty is an exciting prospect for a makeup artist. The temptation to rely on a spectrum of browns when presented with a face like Margaret Pridgen is strong. Her strong cheekbones, flowing curls, and blue blood coloring evoke barn jackets, feisty mares, and open country sides; all of which almost require liberal use of shades from chocolate to hay. With spring clothing that ranged from easy whites to eye catching metallics we knew we had to bring out the inner pale goddess in Margaret. And indeed, with the theme of birth and the sacrifices of spring in our shoot, it seemed only appropriate that we captured the emotion from an original birth. Our summoning of the goddess of beauty brought us an evocation of Botticelli's Birth of Venus. But unlike Botticelli, our Venus was just a little bit more misty thanks to liberal applications of shimmers, some pearlised colors, and naturally the silver clothing.

After cleansing Margaret’s face with hot water and olive oil (our favorite tip for nourishing all skin types, particularly oily ones that are not responding to other treatments) we applied a few dabs of Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage in SC-1 for fair skin on a few trouble spots. Our Venus was on spring break from school in Massachusetts so the stress of finals had led to a few minor blemishes but nothing that secret camouflage couldn’t handle thanks to its two shade system that allowed us to match Margaret’s natural color and undertones. We swabbed her cheekbones, nose, and eye brow arches with MAC Strobe Liquid Lotion. The iridescent pigments gave us just the misty soft focus sheen we wanted. We then applied a light dusting of Therapy Systems Loose Mineral Foundation to even out the color. The final touch on her face was MAC Beauty Powder Blush in Joyous. The silky smooth texture combined with pearly particles gave us just the subtle color required. The pink of Joyous was a natural complement to the shimmer on her cheekbones and the metallics of her garments. We applied it lightly for a sheer look but it can easily be applied in layers for a more dramatic color.


To open her eyes we used Tarte Rest Assured Brightening Wand nude pink liner pencil around her tear ducts and to the inner rim of her eyelids. We then swiped its pink highlighter across her lids and under her eyebrows. We then layered in MAC’s Fascinating Eye Kohl in White (sadly sold out but if you want to experiment on the cheap try Rimmel Soft Kohl in Pure White) and MAC’s Eye Kohl in Mac Eye Kohl in Smolder to get a gray effect. The combination of the eye opener and various kohl gave us a dove gray that we couldn’t find easily anywhere else to match the coloring of the clothing. Finally we used our favorite Maybelline Great Lash in Very Black.

The final touch? Bobbi Brown Lip Color in Salmon. The semi-matte neutral gave Margaret a little polish without distracting from the overall look.

A glowing neutral face is an incredible asset for spring. As you experiment with stronger dressing in the spring and summer months, sometimes a face that shows off our natural state is the best accessory. We started Caitlin Goetz with Therapy Systems Loose Mineral Foundation in Nude. Just a few taps from the raised sifter dispenser on our biggest brush and her face was a smooth canvas for the rest of our beauty adventures. Swirl at will girls!

We bravely ventured into bronzer territory right off the fact. We know it can seem daunting this far from summer but we a few well placed swipes of Vincent Longo Sole Mio Duo Bronzer from the light Fun side of the duo shaped Caitlin's cheek bones immediately. We followed with Benefit Georgia as our blush to get a peach perfect combination of blush and bronzer. The apples of her cheeks have color and her cheekbones are just a tad bit more defined with this combination. We suggest sweeping in round circles on the cheeks with Benefit and one or two quick upstrokes on the cheek bones with the Sole Mio bronzer.

Next we moved on to Caitlin's eyes. The tried and true trick of using a wet flatbrush to apply eyeshadow as eyeliner takes a new twist with Bobbi Brown's Eye Shadows. We used Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow in Charcoal to create as slim a line as possible, so slim you can barely see it in fact. Their formulation glides on smoothly and blends far more easily than the competition making an impossible task of creating a barely there eye opening line seem easy. We used Laura Mercier's Flat Eye Liner Brush to achieve the look. For eyeshadow we went withSonia Kashuk Powder Partner Eye Shadows. Nothing is better than a set of complementary shades for eye contouring. Make it cheap and effective and you win us over forever. Which is exactly what Sonia Kashuk has done with her Powder Partners Eye Shadow duos. We used the spring shade Puff Peach on Caitlin to bring out her pink undertones. And the final eye touch was Maybelline Great Lash Mascara in Very Black $5. We aren’t sure we even need to explain why Great Lash was our mascara of choice. The perennial favorite needs no rationale. Easy to apply, long lasting and almost entirely without clumps, it is the mascara of champions.

But the real coup de grace? Caitlin's pillowy perfect pink lips! Leave it to Bobbi to create our new favorite everyday lipstick. Bobbi Brown Creamy Lipstick is just what it claims to be. With creamy, colorful, long lasting and with matte and shimmer options, chances are any girl can find a perfect daytime neutral to suit her tastes in this collection. We used Nectar on Caitlin and loved its subtle sheen so much we stole it for ourselves.

This is one beauty concept we can actually buy into. The new Bobbi Brown Quick Face Collection features six products that make for a complete makeup look. Bobbi Brown, admitedely, is one of our favorite makeup lines. The color palates, though they aren't as vibrant as, say, Heatherette for MAC, always seem to draw upon that 12-year-old, 'I just ran around in the woods for hours', glow that most women have trouble calling up when our diets, stress-levels, and exposure to UV Rays gives our skin a dull look. In a perfect world, we'd all be drinking gallons of water a day, and have the kind of makeup that enhances our wild, natural beauty. We think the six-product, Bobbi Brown fix, might be just the thing. The collection features everything you might imagine, a lip crayon, a classic black mascara, a long-lasting eye shadow, cream-based rouge, with colors in that typical Bobbi Brown range of nudes, berries, and browns. With Summertime approaching, and the birthday's flying by, we like the idea of sticking to a six-step makeup routine that reminds us of the days when running around in the woods was all that mattered in life.

We'll be the first to admit an occasional overindulgence in the blush department. Alas, anything that's really good, will turn your worst habits right around. The new Pot Rouge Lip and Cheek Color in Cranberry is bold blush that requires one quick swipe over the cheeks for an awesome rosy look. The blush is one we've used for many years, and can recommend the cream-based formula as it's pretty easy on your skin and moisture-rich enough to use as lip color as well. Dab a little bit on bare lips and seal the deal with some chapstick and you have an understated matte look. The new raspberry color, as detailed in its packaging, is ideal for medium to dark skin tones, however, being that we're on the pale side, we think a more conservative application suits light skin tones just fine. Create the quintessential Bobbi Brown fresh face look by using this cheek color along with some classic navy liner, black mascara, and gel tamed brows.

Honestly, we'd like to give this whole February 14th-thing a swift kick in the pants. No, we aren't bitter! It's simply that we like to go out to nice meals and make googly eyes at people and, like any healthy cultural greed, it bothers us when other people do this too. 'Oh, this wine is so nutty', 'Yes, we'd like coffee after our meal', 'Let's go dancing, why not?'. 'But only on this special day!' Anyway, perhaps you need a break from fashion week (year?) and our Bubsy wearing expensive jewels. Perhaps you do like to get pumped on V-Day. Well, our network is definitely on the case.
Style Bakery features a Bobbi Brown pink raspberry face palate that, damn, we think would be pretty any time of the year. I Am Fashion runs down what to get your girl friends for what we suspect would make the perfect night in (aside from a male prostitute and an Ambien!) and The Scented Salamandar gives us her educated opinion on Agent Provocateur's scented massage oil.