Anna Kendrick's Eco Oscar Night Look

Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Up in the Air, Twilight star Anna Hendrick’s red carpet look was fabulous and totally eco, too! Wearing a gorgeous ballet slipper pink off-the-shoulder Elie Saab gown, her hair and makeup were as ethereal as her dress.

Celeb makeup artist Sara Glick wanted to give Anna’s porcelain skin a soft, natural glow. She used Arcona's Magic White Ice before applying makeup. "Anna has beautiful skin and doesn't need much to make it glow. I prepped her skin with a light, all natural moisturizer to help it stay hydrated throughout the night."

"For a natural flush, I accented Anna's cheek bones with a coral shade." Her pick? tarte’s natural cheek stain in eco-cheek. For lips, a base of tarte's LipSurgence natural lip stain in charmed was applied and then finished off with tarte’s double-ended natural lipglosses in jake & samantha (the samantha side is a pale, cotton candy pink with lots of shine). Perfect choice considering the Jake and Samantha are named for John Hughes film Sixteen Candles (did you love that tribute?).

Sara finished the look “with a light spritz of lavender mist for added hydration and an extra dose of calming with aromatherapy" from Arcona’s Lavendar Hydrasol spray. Using a light finishing spray really helps set any makeup but lavender is also great for calming nerves which I am sure came as an added bonus last night.

Thanks to Arcona and tarte for creating green beauty that’s pretty in pink! Hope you enjoyed the show! xo alex.

Vera Farmiga’s Green Golden Globes Glam

Starring opposite George Clooney in Up in the Air, actress Vera Farmiga plays a frequent-flying saleswoman carrying her life in a no-nonsense, airline approved carry-on. But this Golden Globe nominated actress stepped out of the wrinkle-free suits of her character Alex, and into true eco-glamour for her role as best Supporting Actress nominee. Here’s how Vera got Golden Globe gorgeous:

Pre-awards, Vera visited the Arcona Studio, where spa luxury is free of petro-chemicals, parabens, sulphates and synthetics (I’m a huge fan of the Cranberry Gommage) for their exclusive Facial Contouring Treatment with esthetician Brandi Brown. Other Arcona fans include Emily Deschanel and Joan Allen.

Jenna Hipp, The Green Celebrity Nail Stylist, did Vera’s nails for the big night, “For shape, I narrowed the sides a bit to elongate her fingers and rounded the corners ever so slightly with a glass file to avoid snagging her dress.”

For color, Jenna used Orly’s Angel Face topped with Deja-Vu
(paired with Bonder Basecoat and Sec n Dry Topcoat). Said Hipp, “Working with Vera is always a pleasure...it reminds me of when I was a little girl watching my big sister get ready for a big date. Though she's naturally glamorous and sophisticated, her demeanor is also very soothing.”

Makeup artist Tina Turnbow for tarte (her clients include Amanda Peet and Claire Danes) created a look for Vera that was “Old Hollywood meets ethereal naturalist. Think feminine beauty with a healthy flush.”

“I love Vera's porcelain complexion, so I wanted to keep it simple," Tina explained. Here’s what she used (all makeup by tarte):

On skin she applied smooth operator tinted moisturizer SPF 20 in façade
and provocateur mineral pressed powder SPF 8 in fair. For cheeks, "Just a pop of pink made for a healthy blush." with Tina’s flower child natural cheek stain and multitasking pink peony shadow from the flower child eyeshadow palette as a highlighter on top of cheekbones. Both available as part of tarte's Spring 2010 collection.


For eyes she "used warm coppery-bronze tones to enhance Vera's beautiful blue eyes," from her eyeshadow palette. On Vera’s crease and lid she blended shimmering firewheel, matte buttercup, and shimmering ecru hibiscus; using the double-ended brush apply pink peony on browbone. She lined the rim of her eyes with matte brown natural liner and new multiplEYE™ natural lash enhancing mascara.

Finishing it off, Tina thought "a sweet pink pout really complimented her look," and she did so with a combo of natural gel lip stain in charmed and vitamin infused lipstick in bikram.

Jenna was thrilled with Vera’s look, “I'm so glad Vera decided on this very clean neutral nail because it doesn't compete with her incredible dress and makeup.” Jenna also loved the eye makeup and was thrilled to learn the shadows used will be released in the flower child palette designed by Tina for tarte this spring!

Once finished, she set the look with Arcona's Lavender Hydrasol for a natural glow. In all, a perfect example of just how glam going green can be! xo alex.

SOFT SCRUB

In middle school I began using a certain apricot facial exfoliator (I think it’s become a rite of passage) and with it my love of scrubs began. Now I seem to have a scrub for everything: for my face Arcona Cranberry Gommage, for body Fleur de France lavender salt scrub and Korres Watermelon Body Scrub without salt for self tanner prep (FYI, salt strips skin and leads to streaking). Recently I learned about scalp scrubs. I had no idea. The Sugar and Fig Scalp Massage Scrub from Bain de Terre and Korres Green Silt & Coralina Oligoelements Hair & Scalp Scrub were getting great reviews. They sounded fabulous in theory but wouldn’t they be an oily mess? Wouldn’t they leave my hair gritty? I picked up a box of the Bain de Terre and decided to find out for myself.

The summer heat combined with time spent in the pool has not been kind to my scalp. I was so eager to try it I decided to ignore the rather ridiculous pink line on my scalp where I got a little sunburned the day before (from now on, the California Baby SPF stick is for my hairline too). Opening one of the applicator tubes (each box contains four) I was a bit worried that the oils in the sugar scrub would be a disaster and I would be washing it out for days. Instead it was fabulous.

After wetting hair, you apply it to the scalp in sections like hair dye. The sugar scrub is self-heating and the texture fine and nonabrasive. The fig scent was light and sweet and I could see the oils absorbing into my scalp and roots. Prepared to shampoo more than once to get the product out, I couldn’t believe that with one shampoo all oiliness and sugar was gone. My hair looked shinier and my scalp clean. I only wish the tubes were a bit smaller. I have just below shoulder length hair and I used just half a tube. You can either use the rest as body scrub, which some do, or put the tube in a Ziploc bag to keep it from drying out.

Safe for color treated hair, Bain de Terre uses pesticide free botanicals in their entire line and the sugar scrub is ideal for all hair types from oily to dry. Check out their whole line of hair therapies here. xo a.

JUST BROWSING

It was my mother’s birthday the other day and I was thinking about all the beauty tricks I’ve learned from her over the years (and all the makeup I “borrowed” as a teenager and never returned). While neither of us wears a lot of makeup everyday, we each have our daily rituals. I don’t leave the house without mascara and she’s all about the brows.

One of the greatest tricks she’s passed my way is that for brunettes, a blond brow pencil or powder is the only way to go. I was skeptical at first, but then I thought of the brow pencils I had collecting dust because they always seemed to leave me looking like Eddie Munster. She handed me her Giorgio Armani pencil and my brows suddenly looked defined not colored in. Best of all, they didn’t look “done,” just a better version of the original.

A few days later, I was picking up my favorite Arcona scrub at Kalologie and came across Vanitymark Ultra-Brow Pencils. With the consistency of a pastel crayon (always use a brow pencil for the brows...harder eye pencils can pull hair), the pencils are fragrance-free, hypo-allergenic and made without animal testing. Created by makeup artist Brett Freedman, there are seven shades in the eyebrow line and he takes the guess work out of finding your shade by using celeb comparisons (so much better than a little circle of color on a cardboard package). If you’ve got Kate Walsh’s tones you’re AUBURNISTA, Leighton Meester or Angelina Jolie you’re MILK CHOCO. How easy is that? With my (naturally) light brown hair and yellow undertones, BLONDIE was my perfect match.

You can find Vanitymark available online and in stores nationwide.