blog Archives - Page 5 of 9 - Inside the Life of a Makeup Artist | Luxury Beauty, Reiki Healing & Lifestyle by Brandy

April 22, 2019May 1, 2019

A Lit Easter Egg Hunt With My Adult Kids

This is how we do it on Easter in the Gomez-Duplessis family. Since they were babies it’s been our family tradition to have a Easter egg hunt in the yard. Now that everyone is of age and this year is our last Easter together in our Connecticut home we decided to add a little libation to this egg hunt. This year concoction was made by my son, I saw Svedka Vodka, and Finlandia Vodka but I’m not sure of his mixture. It was actually DE-LISH!

After the egg hunt we sit at the table, we eat and drink while enjoying each others company.

Then watch a few movies outside. Usually the kids will pick a movie and hubby and I pick one movie. I don’t usually make it for the bonus one. Either I have fallen asleep 😴 💤 or I’m cleaning my kitchen. And it goes a little something like this….

Do you have any fun family traditions on Easter Sunday?

Hawaii Makeup Artist Brandy Gomez-Duplessis has 22 years of experience in the Beauty & Entertainment industry. Brandy is located on Oahu island in Ewa Beach but you can find her working doing makeup in Kapolei. Being a top influencer & blogger don’t be surprised to see her writing beauty articles and taking selfies for her 60K followers on Instagram on the beautiful beaches in Honolulu…and YES, there are black people living in Hawaii.

April 20, 2019May 1, 2019

Do You Enjoy Your Lunch Date With Hubby

Finally, nice weather in Connecticut, so you know what that mean if you follow me and know my story. I’M FREE!!!!!! I get to come outside like a normal person without problems with my breathing. I couldn’t get dress fast enough and I skipped a lot of my makeup application because I didn’t want to miss a lunch date with hubby.

As always Michael prefer for me to select where we go because of my challenge with food. I hate it so much that it drives me crazy. I’m still learning what I can and cannot eat. I actually keep a journal with me so I try to remember and write down my reactions to something. For example, if I enjoyed a dish but have a reaction I write if its worth eating again by the reaction my body have. Crazy right, but I’m not ready yet to give up everything. Ice-Cream is my favorite snack and I’m not ready to give that up so I eat it only when I’m home and nothing major is planned the next day. So that my body can rest. So my note would say; Ice-Cream “coming up, lots of coughing, lots of mucus” So worth eating again. If I’m out without Michael I’ll text him where I am, he pulls up the menu on his phone and tell me what to order. Thank God he knows my food journal better than me.

Back to my lunch date. I selected Brio Tuscan Grille because we both love it over there. The ambience, the food, the service, and the prices. Because it was a beautiful day we knew the patio would be open to enjoy the beautiful weather we were having. In my mind this is what a gorgeous afternoon in Italy would feel like right about now. Wine was flowing, great conversation was had, and a lot of flirting was going on.

We both order an entree to bring home for dinner so our date continued on the rest of the evening…next, NETFLIX & Chill!

Question, do you enjoy your dates before you were married or after marriage dates?

January 9, 2019January 16, 2019

New Orleans Blogger & Influencer Received 3 Top Influencer Badges For 2018

It is award season so when I received my 2018 Edition Year In Review from FOHR agency I was so elated to review how I was doing as an influencer. After reviewing everything I was so impressed with how beautiful it was put together. As an influencer and blogger this is perfect to receive because it allows you to see how well you are doing within so many categories. Being that I am an Influencer and both Connecticut and New Orleans, it’s nice to see what city I’m doing better in and what I need to work on. The first two-three months of the new year I’ll be in New Orleans so I’ll be able to create more content outdoor because I would not have to deal with the cold and snow in Connecticut. Being in a smaller market like New Orleans as a Blogger & Influencer I always feel that I have to work harder. As many of you bloggers know sometimes it’s hard to create content everyday so this is definitely motivating. The review is a perfect way to kick off the new year. It’s always nice to hear when you’re a TOP INFLUENCER and to receive 3 badges, not to shabby.

Here is the letter that was sent from James Nord, the Founder of FOHR.

Congratulations! You did it!

Hey Brandy,

Did you wake up this morning with a little pep in your step, feeling like you were doing something right? If you have been searching for a reason for that elevated mood, search no more, because we know what it is: you are a top influencer for Black Up, Yankee Candle, and BOSS for December!

Here is what that means: we track over 350 brands to see which influencers are giving them the most coverage on Instagram. Next, we rank those by the number of impressions (number of followers x number of posts) they dedicate to those brands on over a given month. Lastly, we look at the top influencer across 7 following levels and send them, well, this email.

The Instastory or Instastories attached will show which brand or brands you were a top influencer for. If you’re feeling yourself (or even if you’re not), you should throw it up on your Instastories and tag the brand (and your friends over at Fohr). I’m sure they will want to hear from you.

Keep on slaying and we will keep coming up with ways for you to flex.

Cheers,

James Nord
Founder, Fohr

In the review here are some of the categories that FOHR will give you insight on.

In 2018, your Instagram following grew to 52,086. Your 235 posts were liked 88,517 times and commented on 2,955 times.

You gained 16,538 new followers this year.

Your followers engage with you the most when you post at 7:00 PM.
Your top 9 most engaged posts.

You posted 56 #sponsored posts.

You mainly posted about Beauty, Fashion and Parenting.
Your most used colors in your photos.
The most used words, hashtags, and emojis in your captions.
Your most tagged accounts.
Your most tagged cities.
Your most tagged countries.

If you’re thinking about joining in the blogging and Instagram world definitely sign up with FOHR so you can receive your review. It’s a great tool to have and to see where you are every year.

New Orleans Makeup Artist Brandy Gomez-Duplessis has 22 years of experience in the Beauty & Entertainment industry. Gomez-Duplessis is a wife and a mother of 2 adult kids living in Connecticut. In 2014, Brandy was diagnosed with Lupus, Lyme & RA.

October 15, 2018October 15, 2018

L’OREAL Paris vs. Hourglass Cosmetics Illuminating Primer Dupe With Celebrity Makeup Artist and Beauty Expert

Primers are used for different things. Can L’OREAL Paris dupe the Hourglass prestige product? Do they do the same thing? I was a L’OREAL Paris Pro Makeup Artist for 9 years and I wore L’OREAL Paris makeup everyday. I was always a fan of drugstore makeup because I know the beauty industry secrets.

So Beauty Expert/Actor Johnny Luoma and I got together to make you a fun video to see which beauty products we like the best. So let’s see which one of the products win, drugstore or prestige. What do you think?

So about my breathing as you know I have Lupus so my lungs were giving me a hard time talking and breathing but I pushed through and completed the video while having a great time doing what I love, talking about makeup.

October 11, 2018December 29, 2018

WorkParty Tour Stopped In New York And We Had A Blast

My Boss Babe, Ilse McDonnell and I from Live, Learn and Luxe It was invited to attend a fun work party that we couldn’t pass up. We both try to attend events where positive women are hosting and sharing tips on how we could better our brand.

Todays event is taking place in New York, it’s a part of the third WorkParty Tour stop hosted by Jaclyn Johnson. Jaclyn has a weekly podcast powered by Create Cultivate and presented by Microsoft 365. The event was held at WeWork Bryant Park and bubbly was served from Chandon and Crispin Cider.

The panel consists of Rebecca Minkoff, Christine Barbaric, Michelle Lee and Olivia Pérez. The ladies shared with us what it’s like to be a BOSS and how they got their seat at the table. One of my favorite quotes came from the awesome Rebecca Minkoff. She said to us entrepreneurs, “To be an entrepreneur in 2018, you have to multi-task like a bitch.”

Microsoft had an interactive booth where we took a 6 question quiz. I was quoted as The Heart and the other two team member you could have been called was The Influencer and The Collaborator.

At the end of the evening, 16 Boss Babes won a Microsoft Surface Pro and I was one of the lucky winners. So if a WorkParty Tour make a stop in your city be sure to attend.

New Orleans Makeup Artist Brandy Gomez-Duplessis has 22 years of experience in the Beauty & Entertainment industry. Gomez-Duplessis is a wife and a mother of 2 adult kids. She also has a home in Candlewood Lake in Connecticut. In 2014, Brandy was diagnosed with Lupus, Lyme & RA. She uses her platform to help bring awareness about her health.

August 31, 2018August 30, 2018

Our Beauty Secrets From ROC Skincare is How We Stay Youthful

This episode on Makeup and Martinis NYC, we break it down on our skincare routine. Johnny and I talk about the skincare line I use called ROC SKINCARE. Their PR company sent me a goodie box with their entire collection. Since we received the package we both have been using it and this episode we will discuss the differences, show you how to apply, and explain the benefits.

Its a Beauty Breakdown: Skincare Version! Also a Cameo from my Ghost, Charlie. LOL

Products you can find @Ulta:

ROC Retinol Correxion: MAX Daily Hydration Creme $27.49

Deep Wrinkle Daily Moisturizer SPF 30 $24.99

Sensitive Eye Cream $22.99

Deep Wrinkle Serum $24.99

Deep Wrinkle/Sensitive Night Cream $24.99

August 14, 2018August 30, 2018

HGTV Magazine Block Party In New York

Bloggers, if I can share with you anything it’s push yourself everyday if you want to your blog to be successful. I’ve been there with abandoning my blog because of everyday life just took precedence. When I was named “15 Awesome People To Follow During The Golden Globe” by AOL that really got me going. When I changed over to WordPress in 2015 I lost my followers and how to do my SEO that has been so discouraging. But at yesterday HGTV Magazine Block Party the panel got me fired up in a good way. I’m on the right track with my blog because it’s authentic, my blog is about me my life as a Celebrity Makeup Artist and Beauty Expert. The tips and advice that was given by the panel really helped a lot. I just have to have someone look at my SEO because I didn’t correctly do it so I’m losing money and not getting the bookings that I should be.

Ilse and I met up at Grand Central before taking a cab over. It was a rainy day but we didn’t want to miss this event for anything so we both commuted and this rain storm because we wanted to get some blogging feeding. On our way over we talked about the great lineup and who we looked forward to hearing their stories. Can I just say, we were not disappointed.

At 12:50 PM Sarah Patterson, the Editor In Chief of HGTV Magazine welcomed the invited guest.

1:00 PM The Interior of Influence: Powering Your Design Business with LIKEtoKNOW.it, Influencer panel including TB-FAB, Gold a la Mode, Nesting with Grace moderated by Sarah Bertness, Global Content Strategy, LIKEtoKNOW.it

2:00 PM The Everygirl, Branding with a Mission – And How to Stick to It!

3:00 PM West Elm x LIKEtoKNOW.it Brand Collaboration Conversation, featuring Jess Ann Kirby

4:00 PM Shea from Studio McGee, Studio to StoreFront: Behind the Build of Our Blog and Business

5:00 PM Justina Blakeney of JUNGALOW, Cultivating Creativity and the Social Media Scene

6:00 PM Reception (presented by Tito’s Handmade Vodka)

8:00 PM Event concludes

Looking through West Elm catalog to get some ideas for my dressing room at home.

Being a makeup artist, I love colors so looking through Sherwin-Williams Colormix Forecast Wall was inspiring. Always looking for new colors for Entitled Beauty.

Alright Guys! Let the after party begin. Thanks to Tito’s Handmade Vodka everyone was able to enjoy a quality and delicious vodka.

That’s A WRAP! Goodnight HGTV & New York, it’s time to head back to Connecticut.

July 15, 2018July 15, 2018

Entitled Beauty Cosmetics New Summer Colors

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Calling All Beauty Babes…Finally here, Entitled Beauty Cosmetics new summer lip colors. Four delicious shades with one of the new colors being new on our rooster that the beauty world will give it major love. Our Bold Liquid Lipsticks are luxurious that delivers highly pigmented full coverage velvety finish. Our liquid lipsticks are long wearing that will still feel hydrated on the lips. Ladies, your lip game will be tight this summer because we have something for everyone. You can purchase the new shades online, so what are you waiting for.

July 1, 2018July 1, 2018

How Do You Unwind After A Productive Week

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WOW! What a week filled with so many great blessings. For me, when I say blessings it doesn’t always mean making money. For me, it means my life was fulfilled with activities that makes me happy, that fed me with things that I enjoy doing.

Doing what I love, by now you know it’s makeup, teaching makeup with my Beauty Blueprint company, meeting about my makeup company Entitled Beauty, creating content for my social media platforms, getting things crossed of my list for the upcoming Danbury Fashion Week while still being superwoman at home as a great wife and mother.

Today, is a beautiful Sunday. Here in Candlewood Lake it’s so peaceful. All I hear are birds singing and the humming sounds from people riding on their golf carts. I’m home alone, sitting outside on the deck enjoying my bottle of white wine from Josh Cellars. It’s nice to not be on a schedule for a few hours just having a lazy relaxing day doing nothing. Maybe I’ll take a nap outside and just enjoy this lovely breeze.

So, how do you unwind on your off days?

June 21, 2018June 20, 2018

Connecticut Blogger Collective Glam 1yr Anniversary Party

Happy Anniversary Connecticut Bloggers Collective!!!! On Monday night, 20 plus Connecticut Blogger Babes was invited to celebrate with the Founder, Nonee Ngazimbi at the first year anniversary celebration in Hartford. Nonee recognized that Connecticut was missing a blogging community and she did something about it. Now the Connecticut Bloggers Collective has around 2000 followers on Instagram and 275 members on Facebook.

Like many when I moved to Connecticut, I searched for a bloggers group and found Connecticut Bloggers. I joined that group and only managed to attend 2-3 of their events. Then as time passed Connecticut Bloggers Collective popped up and cousin (Ilse with Live Learn & Luxe It Blog) and I jumped on that joining the group right away. What Nonee has done is brought together a diverse group of girls that was hungry and passionate for this community, The Blogging Lifestyle.

It’s always nice to get together and chat in person with the girls and support each other. Women Supporting Women is something that Nonee has managed to make sure we all stand by, Intergity is very important and I must say we have a great group of women and at the party you can see that we all really follow that way of living.