But, when I was asked to try it out I had a closer look at the TT and all of the buzz out there actually got me curious.

Firstly what is the Tangle Teezer?

On the TT website it is described as “a professional detangling hairbrush that is loved by hairdressers and used in professional hair salons. It’s a super smooth operator that works the minute hair is lathered and rinsed. Glides through wet, vulnerable and colour treated hair with no pulling, tugging or yanking.”

Some key points about the TT:

*innovative teeth configuration for dual action, effortlessly detangling

*memory flex technology, gentle on wet and dry hair

*Unique centralise concave delivers optimum results from roots to ends

As soon as I was asked to review the Tangle Teezer I saw it popping up everywhere.  One of my assistants had it in her hair kit and she raved about it.   I was doing hair and makeup for a video shoot with actress Elisha Cuthbert and her sister Lee-Ann.

Lee-Ann sat down to have her hair done and had a Tangle Teezer in her hand.  I immediately asked her what she thought about it.  She gushed about the TT as if it were her new boyfriend!   She claimed that it’s the only brush that goes through her hair when wet and how she’ll never go back to using a traditional hair brush.  So needless to say I was intrigued and could not wait to try my TT.

I tried the Tangle Teezer on myself and I thought it was…well just OK.  Now I need to back that up with the fact that I rarely brush my hair and my hair usually never tangles or gets in knots.  Knowing all that I felt I wasn’t an ideal person to test the Tangle Teezer.   I needed to take this review to a tougher critic so I thought who better then my adorable niece Ruby!

Ruby is 5 going on 30!  She loves it when her Auntie Nee Nee (me) does her hair but she hates when I have to brush it.  Like most active 5 year olds Ruby’s hair easily tangles and as soon as I try to pull a brush through it she starts to squeal in pain.  Her favorite hairstyle for me to do is 2 braids that join together to one at the back of her head-we have appropriately called this style-‘The RUBY’!  I told her I wanted to do ‘The Ruby’ on her and that I wanted to try out a new brush.  As soon as I pulled out my bubble-gum pink Tangle Teezer her eyes lit up seeing as pink is her favorite colour.  She then sat there as I brushed her hair and I couldn’t believe it!  It never once caught on her hair and Ruby sat there calm as can be.  I was very impressed and of course Ruby loved her final look!

I would have to conclude that The Tangle Teezer brush has a little bit of a learning curve to it and it needs a little trial and error to find what works best for you and your hair.   I would encourage everyone to at least try the Tangle Teezer for themselves-its definitely worth exploring.   The Original Tangle Teezer is available at Nail Polish Canada for the affordable price of $14.99 and it comes in 5 exciting colours.  And Nail Polish Canada offers free shipping within Canada and there are no minimums.   Happy Shopping!

XO J9

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I met my bride Natasha through a referral.  She needed hair and makeup services for 3 days over the August long weekend-Friday would be the Hannah, Saturday the ceremony and Sunday the reception.  I first did her makeup and hair trial and immediately I appreciated Natatsha’s great sense of humour!  I also liked how she went for a more modern and soft look for her hair and makeup which is not exactly the traditional South Asian way.

Here are the key products I used on Natasha:

1. Elenett Hairspray-Loreal  2. Blow Pro-Heat protective spray  3. LA Wand Curling Iron  4. Blacktrack Fluidline-MAC Cosmetics  5. Model 21 lashes  6. Fanfare Lipstick-MAC Cosmetics  7. Pale Pink Blush-Bobbi Brown  8. Hello Flawless Powder-Benefit  9. Hello Flawless Foundation-Benefit

One of the coolest things I saw at this wedding was their videographer from Escape Studios used a drone to capture some AMAZING aerial shots!   You gotta check it out:

So much fun right!

When I work with such an awesome bride + bridal party, I really don’t mine spending my whole long weekend with them

XO J9

The post ‘A 3-Day Wedding’ appeared first on Janine Holmes - Makeup Artist & Hairstylist.

Check out my interview where I talk about juicy celebrity gossip and some of my fav makeup tips:

My Interview

XO J9

The post ‘My Interview with Living Disrobed’ appeared first on Janine Holmes - Makeup Artist & Hairstylist.

The packaging for both products is super cute, complete with retro-looking cartoon characters.  Each compact has 8.5g of product and has a handy mirror inside.

Lets first discuss the Mary-Lou.  If I had to pick a favorite between the two it would be this one!

What is it?: The Mary-Lou is a powder highlighter/eye shadow that can be used anywhere on the face to brighten and add a complimentary glow.

Pigmentation:  Great colour pay off.  I also enjoyed that it is a nice champagne colour that will compliment any fair-medium/dark complexions.  I often find some highlighters too peachy or gold for anyone with a fair skintone like myself but the Mary-Lou is a perfect shimmery shade.

Texture:  LOVE the texture!  It almost feels like a cream and applies like butter on the skin.  The actual shimmer particles are super fine so it gives your skin a nice even glow.

Longevity:  Wears really well throughout the day, no fading for at least 8 hours.  Did not crease on my eyelids on top of a primer.

Application:  I like to use any flat sided brushes to apply the Mary-Lou.  I used MACs #192 brush for the cheeks/face and MAC’s #252 brush for the eyes.

And now lets talk about the Betty-Lou…Love me some bronzer especially in the dead of winter!  The only thing I found with this bronzer is it was a little too rich in colour for my pale skin.  I think come the Spring/Summer when I get a little bit of a tan it will be a better match for me.

What is it?: The Betty-Lou is a powder Bronzer/eyeshadow that is silky smooth and will give you a sun-kissed glow anywhere on the face.

Pigmentation: A little goes a long way.  I had to be careful to not overdo it because my face would easily grab the pigment which I would then have to tone down with my face powder.  I would recommend to definitely bring the colour down onto your neck to prevent the tan face/white neck look   It’s a nice warm golden shade that would work best on someone with a medium skin tone.

Texture: Same as the Mary-Lou, its very creamy and glides onto the skin.  The particles are super fine and gives a subtle glow to the skin

Longevity:  Its stays put and remained on my face.  There was little to no fading throughout the day.

Application:  I used more fluffy natural bristle brushes to apply the Betty-Lou Bronzer.  I used MACs #217 for the eyes and MACs #129 for the face.

Overall I think these two products are great individually and they also work great together to create a beautifully sculpted and highlighted face.  These are two keepers that I will definitely be adding to my professional kit.  I would give them both a final score of 4 kiss marks out of 5.

All The Balm products are available online from Obsessed Canada and a nice added bonus is they ship free within Canada!   Both the Betty-Lou and Mary-Lou are sold separately or in the Manizer Duo Kit.

Go and check ‘em out: http://www.obsessedcanada.com/manizer-duo-kit-by-the-balm/

XO J9

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Growing up, my house was the one on the street that all the trick-or-treaters wanted to go to.   The front lawn was transformed into a graveyard, a strobe light was going off blinding anyone that came near and my dad would jump out and scare the kids with a frightful mask on his face.

Needless to say Halloween has always been a big deal for me.

Whenever I start to brainstorm Halloween ideas I love to go back and look at costumes from previous years.

Here is when I was a scary doll:

 I once made my friend up as Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean:

Last year I made my husband up as Stu the Dentist from the Hangover series:

My best costume to date was my Lady Gaga costume from 2010.  I worked with Lady Gaga in 2008 for her first concert in Canada.

I did her hair and makeup and I had a reporter from The Toronto Star contact me because he was doing an article on the top costumes for Halloween.

Lady Gaga was at the peak of her career in ’10 and caused a lot of buzz by wearing her infamous Meat dress to the MTV Video Music Awards that year.

In the article I talk about my encounter with Lady Gaga and I mention how I planned to dress up as Lady G for Halloween.  Here is the article:

About two weeks after that article was published I received a phone call from the producer of The Today Show-Yes the ACTUAL Today show!  I thought someone was playing a prank on me!  The producer explained that they were doing a piece for their website about Pop Culture influenced Halloween Costumes.  She mentioned how she stumbled across the Toronto Star article and was interested to see some photos of my Lady Gaga costume.  I was floored!  I couldn’t believe I was being asked this.  I only had some elements of the costume so I had to run all over the city to find the finishing touches like a wig and tights.  And on top of that I had to find a professional photographer to take some shots of me in my costume (a selfie from my iPhone would just not cut it).  Luckily my friend Steve Alkok was available to snap some photos of me.

I purchased a T-bone steak from BuyCostumes.com as well as Gaga glasses.  The wig I got from a beauty supply store in Toronto called Ragga Hair.  The arm fishnets I picked up at Dollarama and the costume jewelry I luckily had just laying around.

For the makeup I just did a simple smoky eye and a red lip-Ruby Woo from MAC Cosmetics.  Lady Gaga wore similar makeup for the MTV Video Awards.  It truly was all about the meat anyhow!  For the slab of meat on my head I just cut out the picture from the packaging of the costume.

I even made a meat purse by cutting out a bunch of pictures of the steak section from a local grocery store flyer and pasted them to a cheap purse.

To me Halloween is all about being creative and crafty.  There is nothing more satisfying then seeing a costume come together.  For this year I celebrated Halloween a little early at my niece and nephew’s Halloween party held last weekend.  I went as a Mexican Sugar Skull.  I will be doing a blog about how to recreate this look very soon, stay tuned!

Oh and….

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To get that sun-kissed cheek I used a cult classic blush from Nars called ‘Orgasm’…maybe its called that because it gives that sexy ‘after-glow’  For the lips I used ‘Pink Perfection’ Colour Sensational Lipgloss from Maybelline.  One of the other makeup artists let me borrow her Shimmer Brick Compact in ‘Pink Quartz’ from Bobbi Brown. I dusted it all over the higher planes of the models face and it really added more dimension to the skin. I will definitely be adding that product to my kit!

The Segment aired this morning at 6:20am when most of you may have still been sleeping so in case you missed it you can check out the link here (skip to 38:35 thats when the piece starts):

Celebrity Style Steal on Breakfast Television

The best part about working so early…I get to go home and go back to bed….nighty night ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

XO J9

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