This year I have done a lot! And I mean  a lot of charitable events. All of them I enjoyed and loved doing every bit of it. My work with charities is still not done but I am taking a break until next year. I had the pleasure of working with young girls and teaching them how to look professional with their makeup. I think that we should teach young ladies how to wear makeup properly so that when they grow up they will know how to do it the right way. That was a wonderful experience that made me very happy! As a woman I never realized how little girls look at you and want to model your every move. It makes me more aware of what I say, when I say it and who I say it around! Teaching these little girls how to be ladies was a pleasure. I can't wait to do it again!

I had a wonderful time working with Well Spring Living. This facility is a wonderful! It takes in women who have been down and out on the streets and helps them renew themselves and their spirit. I actually have been engaged with this facility more than once. I did a make over photo shoot with some of the ladies and they absolutely loved their new looks! I am so glad that I can touch some ones face and change their lives. I always say this. " When you look good, you feel good."  I stand by this 100%!!!! On Point Hair Salon hosted a fashion show to raise money for the organization and I did all of the makeup for the models. Here are some pics from the fashion show that helped benefit Well Spring Living.

Last but not least! I had a HOE DOWN IN THE SOUTH with Crystal Boots Silver Saddles! I love my client Wanda McGaha! She is not only one of the most beautiful people I have met physically (a true doll face). She is one of the most giving, loving and caring people I have ever met. She is always doing something for somebody. I learn a lot from her and look up to her. She is absolutely wonderful! The Blonde Bombshell has done it again! I did her makeup for her fabulous event at the Mason Murer Museum! They raised money for the Ovarian Cancer Institute and it was very successful! Not only that! We ate good, drank good and DANCED REEEEAL GOOD! I even got on the Mic for the Auction! And it was good to say SOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Supporting a Great Cause

I am kinda late on this blog, but what can I say. Better late than NEVER! Since the beginning of the year I have been approached to work on various committees about doing charitable work. I have been involved with breast cancer, skin cancer, ovarian cancer, AIDS, children against violence and the list goes on and on. I realized that my mission in life is to make people look better and feel better about themselves. But I also have a mission to make this world a better place. I may kid around a lot and say some outlandish things. But when it comes to the truth and making people aware of what's going on in the world... I take that role very seriously. 

Well to make a long story short. I had an old boss come to me and ask me for a favor. As the owner of On Point Hair Salon she wanted to give back to her community. Marcelle Johnson had a fire that was burning in her to make a difference. And she wanted me to tag along with her on this journey. "You want to do a fashion show?" I asked... "Well I got the makeup! No PROBLEM!" Lol! Well as the months drew closer to the event, I began to get a lil nervous... Are people buying tickets? Do we have designers for the show? What do the models look like?!?! I really don't know if this woman is going to pull all of this off!!!!!!!!!!!! YIKES! 

"We need more money to give to this organization ! I will do a girls night out event and raise money!" This by far was one of my biggest events that I have ever hosted in my business career!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSS!!!!!! AND ALL THE MONEY WENT TO CHARITY??? WHAT IN THE HELL!!!!LOL!!!!!!!!!!! This is what I found out. No matter how big or how small you give. The only thing that matters is that you gave. That's all that God wants us to do is give. Give a hug, give a kiss, give a word of encouragement, give an ride, give food, give shelter, JUST GIVE! 

I must say that Marcelle with a host of other people gave just that. Some of us gave and had to struggle to give, but we did it. And for that I will never beg for bread. I think my daddy is proud of his baby. And when I mean my daddy, I am talking about my heavenly father. We raised over $2,000 to give to Well Spring Living! An organization that gives back and breathes life back into women who have been out on the streets since they were young. The organization gives them hope and aspirations to live to see another better and brighter day. I am so happy that the event went well and the models were gorge! I am going to end this by asking this question... When was ast time you stopped thinking about yourself, and decided to just give....

Special Thanks to my Special Friends:

Nrala Janvier True Artist Images

Jermaine Williams of Shut up and Act Productions

Sheila Smith Well Spring Living

Regal People (just a big head man)

Jacquelin Hester Amara Bella Salon 

MEN YOUR SKIN NEEDS TLC TOO!!!!!

Women are always in the mirror! If we are not looking at our face, we are looking at our figure! But for men it's not the same... Men could give two flying figs about their skin! It's horrible!!! Most men enjoy out door sports such as fishing, football, soccer, volley ball and the classic b-ball! But how many of you are protecting your skin from harmful UV RAYS and the dirt and grime of the day!!!! Just because you are a man doesn't mean that you can't take a little time to take of you and your skin. Not only that, but we ladies are SICK AND TIRED of kissing prickly, rough dry skin! We want our men to have smooth silky skin we kiss an.d rub on their face. There a few skin conditions that men have that can be taken care of with a basic skin care regimen. While is school to receive my Aesthetic license, I have researched not only some of the skin conditions that men have. I have also looked into some of the products that are out there for MEN ONLY! The packaging is wonderful and the smell is great. No need to worry men!!!! Your products wont be packaged in pretty pink wrappings with the scents of Honey, Vanilla and Pink Grapefruit.
One skin condition I found to be annoying to men is Folliculitis. Basically,Barbarous Folliculitis is a skin conditions that occurs maybe a day or two after men shave. This is very common in African American men who have sensitive skin and a curly hair pattern. The hair that is grown on the face or neck is either so curly that it grows back into the follicle causing a bump or each time you shave, you're exfoliating your skin causing the skin to become thicker, darker and harder for the hair to come out of its follicle. So the hair is trapped under the skin which causes a small infection. This infection usually comes in the form of a bump that has oil, dirt and debris. It looks like a white pussy bump. Or if the infection is not extracted it turns into a black head and looks like little dark bumps all around the neck or where ever the hair grows on the face.

These are a few quick recommendations for this reoccurring problem.
1.) FIND A GOOD SKIN CARE REGIME THAT CONTAINS A FACIAL CLEANSER, SCRUB and MOISTURIZER W/ SPF15 ( At the end of your day you must cleanse your skin to remove the excess oil and dirt from your skin. The gentle face scrub helps with the ingrown hairs. Find a scrub with salicylic acid. This removes the tough skin and helps your skin breath! No need to exfoliate every day. 1 to 3x's a week is good. Make sure that once you have done these steps, you moisturize!!!! You must moisturize. If you don't, your skin will not be happy and will start to produce MAD OIL! To balance your oil production you wont have as many break outs and your skin will look healthy the older you get.)

2.) When you shave make sure you do a hot shave. The benefits of a hot shave is the closeness. If you go to the barber shop make sure that the barber uses s disposable razor. Not only is this better for your skin, it's relaxing! The skin will thank you. (Wait 24-48 hours to use TendSkin. TendSkin is a wonderful product that has ingredients in it that will aid against INGROWN HAIRS! It works!!)

3.) If you have sensitive skin I recommend a skin balm to soothe the skin after a shave. (The Art of Shaving not only has wonderful Mens Skin Care it's MANLY! I love for a man to be manly and they have the right products for you manly men! Try their skin balm. It calms down the skin immediately after shaving.)

If you are having issues with your skin healing from past shaves or skin conditions. I suggest you looking into a product called Terrasil Max. This product works and helps with skin issues and conditions for men and women. Invest in your self men and take care of not just your body but the skin that it protects! Try going to the spa for a facial and massage. Take a hot date. Not only is it sexy as hell! You also get maddddd cool points for being that man who knows how to take care of himself and the women he wants to cater to. Im just sayin! I dig guys who take an interest in their hygiene and body. That's sexy to me!!!Trust the ladies take notice...

My Video 9/4/11 at OneTrueMedia.com

I AM SO BLESSED! HOW ABOUT YOU?!?!? Sure you are. I wanted to just say thank you to all of guys who are following me, loving on me and asking me how my day is! I couldn't do it with out you! SMOOCHES! LOVE YOU GUYS!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Dead Skin Off! New Skin In!

TAKE A QUICK GLIMPSE OF YOUR SKIN... Now take your thumb and press it in the center of your forehead for 5 seconds. If your thumb mark is still in your forehead, 9 times outta 10 you are DEHYDRATED!!!!!! I know what you are about to say. "I am oily so how can I be dehydrated?" I get this question all the time so let me ask you this. Have you ever had an issue with break outs or acne and your skin was flakey, kinda ashy and very grey and sallow in areas of your face? Well, the reason why you have issues with the breakouts is because you #1 Stripped
away a lot of the natural oils your skin needs to maintain a healthy balance. And #2 You don't exfoliate to remove the dead skin and debris that is on your face, which causes clogged pores and break outs. When we strip our skin with harsh medicated soaps and foaming cleansers, our skin reacts to this treatment by over producing oil. This is way we call ourselves "Oily". It's kinda the same way when we diet and don't eat properly. Our body knows how to protect itself. So when you starve your body, it holds on to the food we put into our system because it doesn't know when you are going to feed it again. It's the same way with your skin! If you strip away majority of the natural oils the body makes to protect your skin, it will over compensate and make an over abundance of oil. Now, there are some skin types that are just oily and people who suffer from seborreah which is a skin condition. For those who genetically have oily skin, there are products out there to help treat your skin type.

There are a few things that I want you to try out before you freak out. I know, your face is the first thing that people see and you want to have a good representation for people to view. I have teamed up with a great holistic skin care line named Murasaki Wholistic Therapies (www.murasakistudio.com) to

show you how to treat your skin and make it look and feel better than before.

1.) You want to find a great cleanser for your skin type. There are 3 major skin types. Oily, Dry and Combination of oily and dryness (oily being directed to the t-zone area). Murasaki has a great facial cleanser that is as good as it sounds! Botanical Facial Cleanser w/ Acai Berry, Sweet Orange & Sweet Almond. A mild foaming botanical cleanser highly rich in Vitamin C and anti-oxidants with great emolient and conditioning properties. Also contains Chamomile, Japanese Green Tea extracts, Aloe and Cucumber that will soothe and tighten.

2.) You must EXFOLIATE! I have very dry skin. I never had an acne problem and my skin never breakouts. But I do have dry flakey skin. I know that if I don't exfoliate my skin at least once a week, it will look dull and even drier. The same thing with oiler skin types. You must exfoliate so that your pores can release the debris and refine the texture if you have acne or breakouts. LISTEN CAREFULLY!!!!! IF YOU BREAK OUT AFTER EXFOLIATION, THAT IS A GREAT THING! YOUR SKIN IS PURGING AND RELEASING THE NASTY YUCKY STUFF THAT WAS TRAPPED IN YOUR SKIN. Give your skin at least 1-2 weeks for it to clear up. Murasaki has a good facial polish that wont damage the skin. It gently loosens up the dead skin and debris to help the skin glow and look more healthy. Botanical Facial Scrub w/Apricot & Walnut. Natural Apricot dissolves flaky, dead cells. Exfoliating Walnut granules whisk them away.

Finish with a hydrating or rebalancing toner and a moisturizer that is good with your skin type. You must restore moisture back into your skin. If you are a more oily skin type, look for moisturizers that water bases and contain dry oils. A great oil to use is Argon Oil. There is so much to know about your skin. The more you know, the better equip you are to tell your doctor what is going on with your skin. Contact a dermatologist or Esthetician for advice on skin care products that would best fit your skin type. Until then, SMOOOOOCHES!

xoxoxoxoxox,

Yolanda P.

Don't forget to e-mail me any questions or concerns you may have to hermosamakeup@gmail.com

Lata Babies!

Did I Just Sweat Out My Fresh Press... Oh No Ma'am!

So I have been natural now for about a year and a half. All this time while I was transitioning from relaxed to natural, I was either wearing a wig or a weave. I didn't want to look crazy with half a fro and half straight permed hair. So you know me! I was straight 18 inching my weaves looking like a million bucks if you ask me! I had Curly, Straight, Loosely Curled Waves! If the chop shop sold it, I wore it! Well the summer hit... Atlanta was every bit of 97 degrees with a heat index of about 110 degrees. Every time I would go outside with a wig or weave I would want to pass the hell out! OMG! I couldn't do it anymore. So I looked at my hair... It was pretty much grown out. I mean I was all the way natural... (To the point that I kinda looked like Kizzy Kente'...) I tried all kinds of products to straighten my hair and make it manageable. 1.) NO ONE PERSON HAS THE SAME HAIR TEXTURE AS YOU. GOD MADE US ALL UNIQUELY DIFFERENT. SO WITH THAT BEING SAID YOU HAVE TO FIND OUT WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. So I finally found a style that was pretty. I got a lot of compliments and I was pleased that I could wear and go. The style I chose to wear was a rod set. My hair is more wavy than curly. So the rods helped create a curly look that I wanted and it last about 2 weeks. Only one thing, Rods take at least 1.5 hours to do if someone else is doing it. It takes me about 2.5 hours to rod my hair and another 2.5 hours to dry!!!!!! What!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not today!!! I have a hot date this afternoon and there is no time to rod set my hair.

Fast Forward to a couple days ago. Which now brings up the question.... How do you keep your natural hair together when you are either working out, in the club or having great steamy sex.... LOL! I had an incident the other night that had my hair stuck to my pillow and I was not cute afterwards! My hair was bouncy, light and fluffy in the beginning! Huge #FAIL after a few hours of "working out." So listen up! This is going to help my natural sisters!!! I had to trial and error on all 3! I got the answers though. These activities will get you in a quick SNATCH PATCH HAIR STYLE if you are not careful! These are some of the tips that I have for you to keep your hair regulated.

1. Wash your hair at least once a week. When you work out, or sweat in your scalp this causes a salty residue that dries out your hair and makes it hard and for some hair types even brittle. I use a mild conditioning shampoo. Sometimes I wash my hair with just conditioner. It doesn't strip your hair so much if you have a dry more coarse hair type.

2. If you sweat a lot, tie your hair up in sections. Now for me, I do 4 sections especially if I am going to the gym. It keeps my roots taunt and tight so that my hair wont wave up. I also use a silk scarf and tie it tight around the front of my hair so my edges stay smooth. Make sure you pin the ends of your hair away from your scalp. I usually do loose knots.

BUT IF YOU ARE GETTING BUSY THAT NIGHT, PLEASE DON'T GO TO BED LOOKING LIKE A SLAVE! MEN ARE VISUAL! Which leads me to #...

3. If you have a McHottie coming over, pull your natural hair into a taunt pony tail. Use some edge control and tie a cute bandana or nice head ban around your head to secure your edges. BUT if you want to look extra cute and sexi. Put in a Long drawstring Phony Pony! AND WHIP YOUR HAIR BACK AND FORTH! (Make sure it's secure... You know how wild you can get. And no man wants to be freaked out about your phony pony) This style also works if you plan to go to the club where you might be dancing, drinking and perspiring.

4. Don't do anything to your hair until you know its completely dry. Your hair will swell if you take it down while your hair is still wet or damp. It all depends on how thick your hair is. I usually work out at night because I know I can wear my hair like this to bed.

Some of the products I use to keep the puff away is Aveda's Anti-Humectant Pomade, along with Jojoba oil and Taliah Waajid's Healing Oyl. I noticed that when my hair has some oil to it, I don't puff up as easily. But when I blow it dry and don't put any heavy oils in it, my hair is so pretty, light and fluffy! It only last a day though because I sweat in my scalp badly. My natural friend also hipped me to the dry shampoo! This helps my natural look last longer and it keeps your hair fresh and clean. I use Bumble and Bumble Black Hair Powder. It works! Especially in this HOTLANTA HUMID HEAT! It's like hell here!

I hope that this blog helps some of my natural sista's! Keep in touch! Please share my blog and let me know what you think!!!! I like questions and suggestions for my blog. You can e-mail me at hermosamakeup@gmail.com

Smooches XOXOXOX,

Yolanda

P.S. WHIP YOUR HAIR BACK AND FORTH!!!!!!

Calm Down and Just Chill...

Today was the most exhausting day! I recently put up on facebook that stress can ultimately reck the health and the look of your skin. Let's face it! Everyday wont be peaches and cream. We will have those days that make us cry, piss us off and make us want to run over cars in mid-day traffic! (Only in Atlanta can you find mid-day traffic... ugh) But, why stress so much to the point where it gives you gray hair and internally messes with your health. We all know that the heart helps pump blood through out your body. We also know that the skin is fed by blood and lymph. So if you are stressing, not exercising and not getting enough sleep. Eventually you will get frown lines, blemishes, blotchiness and and host of other things that really make you look... How can I say this without being offensive... Ugly! LOL! So with all of that being said, we must take better care of our health and protect or skin which is our first line of defense against bacteria and disease. Here are a few things that I want you to do while you are in your stress mode.
1.) Girl! TAKE A CHILL PILL! IT AINT THAT SERIOUS! LOL But if you see that the chill pill isn't working...
2.) Take a walk. Walking is not only a form of exercise, but also meditation. Clear you mind and think things through. Walking also helps to release endorphins which gives your skin a nice healthy glow.
3.) A nice bath with green tea and lavender helps to calm your nerves. Green tea is an anti-oxidant and the lavender has a wonderful aroma that will soothe your soul. Oh and don't forget the Sade or Kem... Nice music puts you in another mind set as well.
4.) Pour a glass of wine! Okay wait... Let's not get carried away! Please don't drink the whole bottle of wine, then go into the tub and fall asleep!! #ohlord... Pour yourself a glass of red wine. It is wonderful for your heart and skin! Another great antioxidant that works!
6.) If by any chance you were crying. Take those same green tea bags, put them in the freezer for about 5-10 mins and rest them upon your eyes. It reduces the puffiness.
5.) But when all else fails, call your best friend and VENT CHILE! What are best friends for?? (Tonya, Sherese and Mekia) ^__^

My main reason for writing this blog was because I realized that stress was making me look ugly. I wasn't smiling as much, my face started to develop a little wrinkle in between my forehead and most of all, the people that were stressing me were looking good! WHAT!!!!!!! I need to calm down and chill for a minute. Evaluate what is causing me this stress and ELIMINATE it! Nothing in life is that serious to die early from and look ugly in your casket! I hope that tomorrow brings a better day to you if yesterday wasn't the best.
xoxoxoxo,
Yolanda