‘Tis the season for fun holiday makeup that sparkles and glows! I’m currently obsessed with the Chantecaille New Classic Palette. This quad of goodness contains three universal eye shadows and a blush that works perfectly on any woman’s skin tone, from the fairest of fairs to the deepest of darks.

The palette allows a quick and easy way to update your makeup from everyday to holiday in a flash. There is a glimmer in each hue that kicks the party up a notch and adds glamour to your overall look this time of year.

Silver – This shade looks incredible on both fair and darker skin when swept across the lids and paired with a black winged liquid liner. Add a few coats of black mascara, and you’re good to go!

Gold – For olive, mocha and darker skin tones, the golden shade is your best bet. You can pair this look with a red or wine matte lipstick for a beautiful balance.

Eggplant – This deep shimmering color can be used as a jewel-toned eyeliner. Use a flat angle brush to pick up the color, and then smudge it along the upper lash line in a soft stroke, flicking it at the ends into a little wing. You can also blend it across the lids by moving the brush up and over the crease and under lower lashes for a new twist on the smoky eye classic. If you use it for a smoky and sultry look, pair it with a nude glossy lip, so you don’t overpower the face.

Blush – The shade is sheer enough that you can simply sweep it lightly over your usual daily blush to intensify the cheeks and create a more radiant look.

So go on and celebrate the new holiday, and have fun playing with some new shades!

Find your holiday look in the Makeover Studio!

As an established makeup artist, many beauty brands send me samples of their latest products for consideration. I only write about the items that I truly love and I always abide by Daily Makeover’s Editorial Ethics Pledge in each of my Positively Beautiful posts.

Creating a well-polished look with makeup while interviewing for a new job, asking for a raise or giving an important presentation is essential for success. It projects an image of total self-confidence and cool control that is incredibly appealing to others. Studies have shown that a women who applies her makeup correctly using flattering shades comes across as more competent and trustworthy than a women who doesn’t care at all about her appearance. Taking even five quick minutes to apply the right products in the right places can make a big difference in your career.

Is Your Hairstyle Keeping You From Scoring A Job?

In my book The 5 Minute Face, I explain how to create this fast and easy polished look in minutes. You can also download my Carmindy App for the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android and check out the Work/Day look for a slightly more put-together look. You can also find all the right shades that are perfect for you, custom-chosen by me.

Here are a few must-tries to climb the ladder of success. If you define your eyes with a pencil liner in a shade that is opposite from your iris color, they will stand out more and really pop. Pair this with a soft, neutral eye shadow and black mascara, and people will really be looking into your eyes and listening intently.

Man-Repelling Beauty Looks

Wearing a bold red or rose lip can command attention when speaking to a larger group. Just make sure to apply a product that’s sheer and not glossy and check that there is no residue on your teeth. My favorite trick is to stick your finger in your mouth and pull it out, eliminating excess lipstick so that never happens.

Keep the rest of your makeup simple so the face stays balanced in the boardroom. Leave high gloss and shimmer out of the office and choose makeup with a more subtle and sheer look so your natural beauty is highlighted but not overdone. Too much makeup can look like you are trying too hard and give off an impression of insecurity. Carmindizing the face is key: Apply a highlight under the brows, on the inner corners of the eyes and on top of cheekbones for the perfect luminosity.

Nails should always be perfectly polished and never ever chipped. When wearing a darker shade, keep the polish in your bag for quick touch-ups and always carry around an individually wrapped nail polish remover cloth and bottle of neutral nail color in case you need an emergency mani at lunch time.

Find your boardroom look in the Makeover Studio!

As an established makeup artist, many beauty brands send me samples of their latest products for consideration. I only write about the items that I truly love and I always abide by Daily Makeover’s Editorial Ethics Pledge in each of my Positively Beautiful posts.

Photo: © Jason Merritt/Getty Images

I was recently visiting with my family when my aunt Pam told me how frustrated she was with fashion and beauty magazines because every makeup tip was geared towards the young. She expressed her concerns about getting older and wanted to know my secrets to looking her best at a more mature age. Here are my top ten tips on skincare and makeup for the beautiful mature woman.

Skin Care At Every Age

1. Add more moisture to your total skin care regime. Switch from cleansing gels or bars to cleansing milks that are more hydrating. Use face creams that are richer and will add the extra nourishment your skin now needs instead of lotions. Make sure you apply a lip balm before going to bed each night to ensure a soft smile in the morning.

2. Stay away from dark, matte lipsticks. Our lips can become smaller as we age, so you will want to switch to sheer or creamy lipsticks in light, neutral shades that contain a slight pearlescent glow. Also, apply a light highlighter around the perimeter of the lips to enhance their natural lip shape.

3. Lipstick colors can bleed unless you seal the lips with a lip liner. Don’t use colored lip liners that match your lipstick like the old days because you’ll get a ring around the mouth when the hue wears off. Instead, you want to apply a neutral lip liner that matches your real lip color to keep lipstick from seeping into fine lines around the mouth.

4. Stay away from powder foundations that can look chalky on the skin and enhance any wrinkles or creepy texture. Opt for liquid foundations that contain natural botanicals and antioxidants that feed the skin. Apply Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired By Carmindy Your Skin Makeup with a non-latex sponge, making sure to cover the eyelids and under the eyes. Then, apply only a very light dusting of translucent powder like MAC Blot Powder to set your makeup without it looking heavy.

5. Thin brows can age you, so try and fill them in naturally with a fine tipped eye brow pencil and choose a waterproof formula so it stays put all day. Use small feather-like strokes, and if you feel you overdid it, grab a synthetic fine-tipped concealer brush dipped into a little foundation to tone it down.

6. Avoid getting raccoon eyes during the day by applying waterproof eyeliners that have staying power along the upper lashes only. I like all the great colors from the Makeup Forever Aqua Eyes Collection.

7. Mascara can be a real mess when it smudges on lids that tend to get heavier as we age, so use tube technology formulas like Blinc Kiss Me Mascara to guarantee lashes that last. You don’t need makeup remover to take this formula off at night—just wash your face with warm water and cleanser, and the mascara easily slips off into little tubes.

8. Shimmery and glittery eye shadows can look strange on older skin, so use sheer matte or slightly opalescent colors across lids. A good test to see if you are on the right track is to apply the color to the wrist and then walk outside and look at the shade in the sunlight. If you see little squares of shimmer, it’s too much. If it just looks glowing and blends easily into your skin, it’s just right.

9. Those dreaded chin hairs happen to the best of us when time goes by and sometimes plucking isn’t enough, Make an appointment with your dermatologist and schedule a series of laser treatments to eliminate all those nasty little witchy hairs.

10. Add a pop of color to the face to create a refreshed and youthful look. Apply a cream blush in a floral shade just to the apples of your cheeks and blend in with your fingertips. My Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired By Carmindy Sheerest Cream Blush in Beaming is the perfect universal color and never smears off.

Try on makeup now in the Makeover Studio!

As an established makeup artist, many beauty brands send me samples of their latest products for consideration. I only write about the items that I truly love and I always abide by Daily Makeover’s Editorial Ethics Pledge in each of my Positively Beautiful posts.

What you carry your makeup around in can say as much about you as what you put on your face. You would be amazed at the makeup bags I see when I do private consultations, and what nasty things women come in toting. I see ripped plastic Ziplocs, dirty canvas free giveaway clutches and sometimes-ugly grey tackle boxes from local hardware stores.

Now come on, ladies, there are so many chic and inexpensive options out there so you can look well organized and classy at the same time. I made a list of five cute makeup bags I found under $20, so there is no excuse for bad carting.

The Calypso for Target Medallion Weekender Bag is a boho chic bag with a bamboo handle that lets like you carry all your makeup booty in a tropical carryall.

Eco Tools by Alicia Silverstone Cosmetics Bag is ecologically friendly recycled hemp, and its cool printed design is non-toxic.

Ulta’s Black & White Striped Valet mimics the look of its incredibly famous and expensive doppelganger by Henri Bendel and saves you about $40 bucks!

If you can never seem to find anything and need a clear makeup bag for easy visual product spotting, try the Modella bags from CVS. With a myriad of sizes and shapes you can always find what you are looking for.

Last is the Prevail Makeup Bags from Duane Reade, which is more of a case and can house all your beauty booty!

Try on makeup in the Makeover Studio!

As an established makeup artist, many beauty brands send me samples of their latest products for consideration. I only write about the items that I truly love and I always abide by Daily Makeover’s Editorial Ethics Pledge in each of my Positively Beautiful posts.

As the fashionistas go full throttle this fashion week in NYC, many women’s whole beauty routine needs to be spot-on if they are ducking in and out of shows, parties and restaurants. There is a fashion week survival kit I swear by that has kept me going in the past through all the madness. This same survival kit applies to all women everywhere as the holidays approach to keep you looking fresh and on top of your game.

20 WTF!? Looks From Fashion Week

The first thing you will need is Visine Maximum Redness Relief. After long days and nights, tired eyes can make you look a bit haggard and with a quick drop in each eye, your whole face can light up. I never leave home without them!

You must carry EBoost packets with you to mix up in your water bottle. These little energy-boosting powder packets contain green tea, vitamins and all the great nutrients to keep your body energized and revitalized while running around.

The Fresh Satin Luster Palette is a must in your kit to “Carmindize” the face. Use it to highlight under the brows, on the inside corners of the eyes and on top of the cheekbones. This technique showcases the planes of your face and gives the appearance of illuminated and glowing skin.

Go Nude! (With Your Makeup)

Nars Lipstick in Heat Wave will make a bold statement, as this matte orangey red color looks uber chic no matter what you are wearing. Just make sure you pair it with my Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired By Carmindy Sheerest Cream Blush in Bloom on the apples of your cheeks and nothing on the eyes except very black mascara. The last thing you will need is a small bottle of Tylenol for when it does finally all creep on you!

Find your fall look in the Makeover Studio!

As an established makeup artist, many beauty brands send me samples of their latest products for consideration. I only write about the items that I truly love and I always abide by Daily Makeover’s Editorial Ethics Pledge in each of my Positively Beautiful posts.

Photo: © Luca Cannonieri

Having long, flirty eye lashes is a beauty bonus we all wish we had. In this day and age, we can achieve whatever fabulous fringe we dream of. On the market, we can find lash curlers, thickeners, dies, growth serums, fakes, extensions, mascaras that plump, lengthen, thicken, extend, tube and mimic falsies. Whew, it’s exhausting and where do you even begin?

The Mascara Hall Of Fame

The first thing you need to consider is the look you are trying to achieve. For a natural look, stay away from falsies, extensions and thickening mascaras. Instead, opt for tinting your lashes at a salon if they are light and curling them with the Preo Corner Lash Curler (easiest one to use) if they are straight. Use a clear mascara for day like CoverGirl Professional Natural Lash Clear Mascara and then a light formula mascara for evening like Maybelline Lash Discovery.

If you want sexy, seductive lashes try adding on falsies from Andrea Mod Lash (found at the drugstore) and then sweeping on a thickening lengthening black mascara like Benefit’s They’re Real Mascara. This cool mascara blends together all the new wand technology we have seen into a very unique brush.

If you want a dramatic fringe, but you are super low maintenance, try getting a set of lash extensions and then you can skip having to apply anything to your lashes at all. If you have great lashes and mascara tends to smear—but you hate waterproof formulas—try the tube technology mascaras like Blinc Kiss Me Mascara that won’t run but is easy to wash off at night

If you feel like your lashes need a boost, use Revitalash Lash Serum to stimulate their growth, and then sweep on Revlon Grow Luscious Plumping Mascara for super lush lashes that will definitely get you noticed. I started using the Revitalash after losing a few of my own in a curling accident (never curl your lashes on a plane in bad turbulence), and the results were truly spectacular. A friend of mine had to actually stop using it for a while because her lashes became to be too long. What a great problem to have!

Try on mascara in the Makeover Studio!

As an established makeup artist, many beauty brands send me samples of their latest products for consideration. I only write about the items that I truly love and I always abide by Daily Makeover’s Editorial Ethics Pledge in each of my Positively Beautiful posts.

Eyebrows truly frame the eyes, and during the searing heat of summer when we tend to wear less makeup, the brows need to look gorgeous. A fuller but groomed brow makes the face appear youthful, so don’t over pluck them. Nothing will destroy your perfect summer look faster than disappearing eyebrows, so if your brows are a bit sparse, fill them in with a waterproof brow corrector that stays on even through sweating.

Photo: © Luca Cannonieri

I have scoured the world of beauty to come up with the best summer brow products that will keep your furry friends looking flawless and in place no matter what the heat index is. If you have overplucked your brows and want them to grow back a bit faster, try the Peter Thomas Roth Brows To Die For. It infuses the brow area with rich nutrients to enhance the appearance of full healthy brows and stimulates growth, so sweep it on at night and when you wake up in the morning.

If your brows are in good shape and all you need is a hint of grooming and a way to keep them in place, go for Blinc’s Brow Mousse. This water-resistant groomer adds a light hint of color to fill in sparse areas and won’t fade, smear or run—even if you go swimming.

For a brow that needs a bit more help, I love the Makeup For Ever Waterproof Brow Correctors. Use a flat stiff angle brush to sweep on this filler to restore life to over plucked, weak or stunted brows. It won’t move even through a session in a steam room and continues to frame the face from morning to night. It takes a bit of practice to feather on the color naturally so remember a little goes a long way. For an easier way to make the brows look their best try the Makeup For Ever Waterproof Brow CorrectorsStila Stay All Day Waterproof Brow Color. This liquid pen sweeps on a budge proof color that makes brows appear stronger and when paired with black mascara, a sweep of bronzer on the face and a coral lip and cheek you will be a melt proof beach babe!

Try on summer makeup in the Makeover Studio!

I think I’m in love. Every once in a while a high-end luxury product comes around, and I just can’t stop myself from buying it. This collection called Belmacz Beauty is pure decadence. While scouring the internet recently, I found the brand on a hot new website called Cult Beauty, which is touting itself as the new Net-A-Porte of beauty.

This incredibly luxurious line of makeup was created by the famous Belmacz jewellery house designer Julia Muggenburg. She has fused together make up, precious metals and jewels in an original and different approach to beauty with the same attention to detail that she applies when crafting her beautiful jewelry line.

The Oyster Pearl Powder is a mix of finely crushed pearls and translucent powder that illuminates the skin in an ethereal dusting of lightness. It smells like rose and is really magical when dusted on the face or body.

Halo is a beauty balm containing rosehip oil, crushed pearls, 24 carat gold leaf and cocoa butter for skin that begs to be caressed. It’s the most glamorous moisturizer you can apply.

Blitz, a 24 carat gold leaf cream eye shadow, is a fun disco-like party in a jar that that blends on the skin to create gilded lids the Gods would be jealous of. Go easy and save it for fun summer night parties, as a little goes a long way.

Glow is a collection of gold-infused lip pots with skin-loving oils and minerals to create a soft, sumptuous pout. They are sheer and light and come in an array of five shades. If you feel like a splurge, these treasures are surly worth it!

Try on jeweled makeup in the Makeover Studio!

These days, the hottest thing in makeup is the rising crop of young makeup novices creating YouTube video tutorials showcasing how to get their looks. The videos range from girls demonstrating how to recreate the makeup seen in the latest Lady Gaga video to imitating hot off the runway makeup styles. Many of these videos are also a platform for beauty lovers to rate and demo their favorite brands and share some tips and tricks they have learned along the way. I think it is a fabulous forum to share information, so I too jumped on the bandwagon.

Watch Makeup Tutorials On Daily Makeover!

I just dropped two videos on YouTube that showcase how to achieve my famous 5 Minute Face. I braved the video camera sans makeup and went step by step to show you how I cover up my own skin imperfections, like melasma, in my Basic Face video. In my 5 Minute Face video, I go through each tip on achieving my universal look.

All of the products I use are listed in the video, and to find shades that work with your unique skin coloring you can download the Carmindy App to customize the look just for you. I actually had such a fun time doing it that I created many more looks on myself like Vacation Glow, Date Night, The Smoky Eye, Wedding and more. Keep an eye out for those because they will be coming soon!

Going to cosmetics counter to try and learn how to do makeup and getting suckered into buying hundreds of dollars worth of products you don’t need will soon be a thing of the past. You can now literally go through beauty school in the comfort of your own home by watching these videos and becoming your own savvy beauty expert.

After years of watching What Not To Wear, have you ever desired a private one-on-one with me to teach you how to enhance your own unique beauty? Do you have a laundry list of personal beauty questions you can’t find real answers for? Well now you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about beauty by signing up for a private consultation with me on my website.

Stop wasting your hard earned money on makeup products that don’t deliver or colors that may be hot on the runway but look ridiculous on you and get a customized makeover by yours truly. Just visit my website and click on “Consultations” to learn more and browse my website for everything Carmindy. I hold private consultations in NYC only, so if you live in the area or are planning a trip to the Big Apple simply make an appointment.

The consultation takes about 1 ½ hours and includes brow grooming, makeup application by me and a step-by-step lesson on how to do it yourself, a personal makeup bag analysis (yes you may have to part with your old standbys), a diagram of your customized look to follow along at home and constant contact information for any future questions or concerns you might have. Another fantastic bonus is you will walk away with the entire Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired By Carmindy line. It’s just you and me baby without the TV cameras or the pressure of some department store sales person selling you expensive products you don’t need. To schedule an appointment contact me and get Carmindized!

How many of you lovely ladies have ever bought makeup or skincare products on television? Have you ever gotten sucked into watching a mesmerizing expert polish, blush, swirl, blend or paint women into gorgeous creatures on QVC, The Shopping Channel, or HSN? I know I have, and now I’m on air doing it myself and let me tell you—it’s a real blast!

The great thing about buying products on one of these shopping channels is that you can actually watch the creator of the line or the beauty experts demonstrate the products on camera, and it’s usually in HD. This means that what you see is really what you get. It sure beats just seeing perfect models wearing the products on the pages of beauty and fashion magazines all retouched, airbrushed and unrealistic. This is a way to not only get to see exactly how it looks in real time but also learn the tips and tricks of application by watching the pros themselves.

I was recently on The Shopping Channel in Canada for my third time, and I find the experience to be a wonderful way to connect with fans and all the women that have real beauty questions and needs. Ladies can write in online or call into the show to ask questions that viewers at home might also have, give testimonials about the products and have a chance to be a part of the program.

When I’m selling my line of Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Inspired By Carmindy I am able to explain how I created the line and the wonderful antioxidant ingredients are in each product. I also demonstrate my different techniques on how to apply looks like the perfect smoky eye or my famous “5 Minute Face.”

The brands on television these days are incredible—you can find products like Philosophy, Smashbox, Clinique, Benefit and even Stila. Plus, buying things on TV means never having to be bullied at cosmetic counters again! You can choose what you want in the privacy of your own home. The networks have great return policies if you are not happy, so you won’t be stuck with products that don’t work. So tune in and get gorgeous!