Rae@Mixology

I'm going to Thailand! Lord willing...

I have been praying about a lot of things and well God has laid Thailand on my heart, randomly out of the blue, it was not on my list of things I was praying about! But... since He did, I kept it quiet and told no one cause I wanted to be sure I was not crazy... I asked a few girls to pray and fast with me and I asked the Lord that if Thailand was where He wanted me, to just have someone, anyone, just walk up to me and say "Thailand!" cause that sounded like a good plan to me!? haha!

A few weeks ago at Barros pizza, we walked in to order and it’s been the same two girls working there forever and randomly the brunette tells me "guess what!? I got accepted to teach overseas next summer!" and I said "yay congrats, where?" and she goes "THAILAND!" so I laughed, "haha!" and even though it was not a direct, "Rae, God says go to Thailand super spiritual moment", I felt it was exactly what I did pray for! I took a step of faith and filled out the application. I was accepted!

I'll be going to Bangkok, Thailand with a group called Adventures in Missions, I will leave end of October and return in about 2 weeks, I think. I found this trip through something else I was looking at and when I saw the nature of the trip I knew this was it and why the Lord had said Thailand.

The focus of the trip is human trafficking and it's an area He placed on my heart right before moving to China. The team will focus first on ministry to trafficked young women and children in two major red light districts-Patpong and Nana District. The goal is that we will see with His eyes and feel with His heart as we encounter various opportunities for ministry relative to human trafficking. Our overall mission is to encourage, uplift, and work alongside ministries which have been working diligently inside Thailand for many years in these areas. We want to offer hope in Jesus and a way out of that lifestyle! It's an intense trip so they only take 15 women and keep it short; therefore we need Lots of prayer!

How You Can Pray:

-Against spiritual attack
-Pray for the women and children stuck in the cycles of human trafficking.
-Pray for the relationships we will form with the women in the major red light districts.
-Pray for the Patpong and Nana Districts and the people who flock to these areas as a way of getting away and handling their own rejection.
-Safety
-Pray my heart would be teachable and flexable cause this is a rough area where sometimes I think a machette would be more effective (kidding..)

At this point I have paid my deposit to secure my spot, but I am confident God will provide the rest. I feel so blessed He would give me the opportunity to go and I am excited to see what He does! Friends and family join me in prayer for the trip because I know it will be pretty emotionally and spiritually intense and I am not sure I am equipped for this area, but I am willing to go. :)

Thank you all for your love & support!

In His Love,
Rae

Come follow Me to the darkest places Come to the hurting, the howling, hallow faces, Come with Me to the addicted, convicted, and caught, Come with your light, run with your salt, Come to the sorrow; the suicide tree Come to the stable, Come follow Me.

The number one makeup question I get (besides how do you get rid of wrinkles) is how to I do that "smoky eye" look!? What? OH.... you still want the answer to how do I get rid of wrinkles..... well you are not gonna like this, but you don't. You can however drink LOTS of water and wear sunscreen everyday and help reduce the look, but this is a whole other blog-ity blog my lovelies....

Back to our task at hand - Smoky Eyes!

Before you start just remember this is a look that takes practice and will vary depending on your eye shape. So please don't give up and get discouraged! Smoky eye looks are really about layering and blending the colors to the intensity You want. Traditional smoky looks are done in grays, silvers, blacks, and white. But you can also do purples, navy blues, browns and yes even pastel colors so get Creative!

Step 1 - Prep your lid with some nude primer or foundation, then dust some translucent powder over it. You may want to put some loose pwder under your eye as well to blend away and dark powder that may fall. I would do your eyes first then the rest of your face in case you need a quick makeup fix! Some like to keep the nude color as a base and not add a highlight. I like both looks so feel free to add Starlight eye shadow as a base after or a light silver grey is nice too.

Step 2 - Take your black eye liner pencil (I know, not Mixology) or your black Mixology eye color like Jet or Gunsmoke and starting at the outer corner of your upper lash line using the pencil or our angled brush push the tip of the liner between the roots of the lashes. Work all the way a long the upper lash line. You will be creating a rough thin line, you dont need to make it perfect. This builds the color intensity between and around the lashes giving depth of color and it will make your lashes look thicker.

Step 3 - Using a small pointed brush like our double end smudge brush, use a dark gray/black shadow (Inked) and run it along the upper lash line smudging the line and blending it together.

Step 4 - Using our wet / dry brush apply a gray or silvery gray shadow (try Soot or a little more Inked) above the eye liner blending up and into your eye socket. You may try applying it wet as well to intensify the look. Essentially we are building layers to get the smoky look. So you will have to keep checking as you go to the color intensity you want.

Step 5 - Using our eye shadow brush blend more dark gray eye shadow over the lower part of the lid, blending it from the lash line upward and outward and into your crease, blending or blurring the colors together. Using our angled liner brush line the color on your lower lash line as well and smudge it as bit.

Step 6 - For a true smoky eye you will want to take a black eye liner pencil and line the inside of your eyes, the little rims your lashes come out of :) If this irritates your eyes, DON'T DO IT! You can still have a smoky look with out getting red, irritated eyes... Then finish off your look with a couple coats of mascara, let the first coat dry before you apply the second.

Thoughts - I tend to like keeping the inner parts of my lids lighter in the layering and making the outside of the the eye the darker layers of color. This way it keeps your eyes appearing bigger while still getting the smoky look, but this is again up to each individual and the look the want to acheive.

Focus on heavy lining around the eye and smudging that line up a little onto the lid.

Glam up your look by adding a shimmer or glitter on the lid like Armor a silver gray color.

Keep the rest of your makeup pretty neutral, I like a little color on the cheeks and a nude, glossy lip. Some are bold and go for red, just make sure its the right red for you!

I hope this helps and remember practice makes perfect! ;)

XOXO,

Rae

Whenever people ask me what I do they always say, "You MAKE makeup?" like they heard me wrong.... but it's true, I do. Naturally the question that follows is, "How do you MAKE... makeup?" And I reply, "with me hands luv, with me hands!" ;) 

 If I really think back on it, maybe it was a natural progression for me. My dad is a hobby prospector or as mom and I say, it's his 2nd job.  One time we spent a month in Alaska panning for gold! We even found a little... My mom loves rocks and was always collecting gems and sharing with me or putting them on display in the front yard. And well, my auntie loves diamonds! Somewhere in the middle that equates to me making mineral makeup!

In 2004 I was working a job that I liked, but I had let go of all my creative outlets and was craving some outflow. I had always loved makeup and was curious if I could make it?  I did a lot of searching and research to see if it was even possible. I read that women ingest about 5 pounds of chemicals a year through their makeup alone! It shocked me! I began to understand that being healthy is not just about what you eat, but what you put on your face as well. I started to sort out what was good for your face and what we could do without and developed a line free of chemicals, dyes, preservatives, parabens, and other junk fillers. Eventually I had collected enough books and supplies and was ready to give it a try! I made a lot of mistakes, but through it I made a lot of "happy accidents" as well. Soon friends started asking for colors and various items and before I knew it, I had a full line of makeup and Mixology was born!

Now I get to share my love with you, keep my creativity flowing, and help keep us all a little more healthy!

Blessings,

Rae

me in Alaska panning for gold :)

We are going to the Emmy's! Our products will be a part of the "2009 Emerging Magazine Emmy Awards Luxury Gift Suite" gift bags & will be presented to top Award Nominees.  

A while back I received an email being invited to be a part of this event. Needless to say it sounded to good too be true for a small frye like me haha, so I emailed back and said "ok, what does it cost?" To my surprise I was told that the owner's wife asked that I be included for free! Then came the tears, I was so excited and got to hear "Welcome to the Emmy's!" So I told my new friend to give his wife a kiss for me cause I am blessed! I shared with him that I am currently living / volunteering in China and have had some rough days wondering if I made the right choice, and this helped once again confirm for me that I am where I am suposed to be. While I don't have all the details of what will happen, I do know two lucky nominees will get a full Mixology Makeup arsenal and we will have some great photos & videos to share with you after the Emmy's!

In addition, we want you to be a part of our special night. Join our email list at the bottom of the page for an exclusive Emmy night promo available only to our newsletter members!

Stay tuned for photos and videos of the event!
visit our friends at Emerging Magazine for a special Mixology article - http://www.emergingmagazine.com/mixology-makeup/4535257532

Maybe you have never considered this, but buying makeup can be overwhelming! Especially online when you can’t touch, feel, or try the makeup. Consider this a helpful and buyers beware tips for the everyday online consumer.

There are many mineral makeup lines today and there are many “handmade” lines out there too. What does all this mean? How do you choose what’s best? Just because it's mineral makeup does NOT, I repeat, does NOT mean it's natural…. Natural is an extremely broad term, you can have a jar full of chemicals and bad ingredients and the manufacturer can literally sprinkle a few minerals in there and call it mineral makeup! SCARY stuff peoples! Since my main venue of selling is in the handmade market, my main concern is you buying a “handmade” line.

So here are some things to look for:

What are the ingredients? You want the most natural product you can find. It’s been said that women can ingest up to 5 pounds of chemicals per year through their makeup and face care alone! You have heard less is more right? I believe the same to be true in all things we consume. At Mixology Makeup our ingredient philosophy is just that! We use the basics and we use it to its full potential. Our line includes Titanium Dioxide & Zinc for adhesion and natural SPF, Iron Oxides and Mica for color, Sericite, Kayolin Clay, or Silica for slip and smoothing pores and fine lines and oil control, and Ultramarine blue to balance colors. That’s 8 ingredients if one product contained all of them and none of them are chemicals! In two of our specialized products I add French green clay and Allatoin and they are my only two products that have a shelf life of 2-5 years. Allantoin is used to help promote skin healing benefits for sunburns, minor scrapes, and cuts. It holds the ability to help heal the skin tissue as well as stimulate the growth of healthy tissue. It’s considered nontoxic and non-allergenic. Our French Green Clay has enormous absorbent powers due to the constitution of its micro molecules. It literally "drinks" oils, toxic substances, and impurities from your skin. Its toning action stimulates the skin by bringing fresh blood to damaged skin cells, revitalizing the complexion, and tightening pores. French Green Clay is marvelous for helping to clear problem skin. Use it daily on trouble spots, or weekly as part of a complete facial treatment. Mined from bedrock quarries in France, it is completely natural, unscented and fragrance free.

Ingredients to stay away from :

Bismuth Oxychloride - is found in most of the mainstream mineral cosmetic companies...a by-product of the lead and copper refining, rarely occurs in nature, a skin irritant, leaves an unnatural shiny finish, clogs pores and causes blemishes, in large amounts can cause cystic acne, many people are sensitive or allergic to this filler ingredient. It is used because the cost is SO cheap it is better for mass production.

Talc - a known carcinogen very drying and irritating to skin, accentuates lines, linked to uterine cancer, ovarian cancer and respiratory problems in infants.

Chemical Preservatives Parabens - man-made preservatives have been found in breast cancer tissue and increases the aging process (mineral make-up is inert and needs no preservatives) By adding you give the product a shelf life and the potential to grow bacteria.

Alkyl Hydroxdy Benzoate Preservatives and red dyes - both linked with cancer.

Corn Starch and Rice Powder - cheap fillers, not minerals, look for asbestos free, again used mostly to enable mass production at a low cost, but high price to the consumer.

Dyes or Lakes - coal tar derivatives, low-level exposure is linked to cancer (like the bright UV colors are a BIG NO-NO)

Dimethicone - a silicone oil.

Carmine – animal product, used to get the red in your bold pinks and reds etc, derived from crushing beetles shells, stay away if you are a vegan.

Re-sellers:
The handmade world is full of re-sellers. I have to say it’s my pet peeve because I work hard to bring a truly original and honest line to the public, which takes many, many hours while others claim the same thing but resale makeup for a cheap price, which in essence attempts to dupe the public in authenticity and originality. It’s upsetting to me to see this happening on handmade sites, go sell elsewhere please.

Some things to look at: please note this is my blog and my opinion only …
• Pricing, if it is super cheap and not a sample… my guess is it is not handmade, but rather a re-seller. I am not saying prices should be astronomical, but reasonable, we have to pay listing fees, paypal fees, supplies, and we need to pay ourselves for making it – business 101: $4 won’t pay the bills!
• Pictures, these are a huge clue to me! Stock photos are rampant and you may be buying a color that is NOT the actual color in the picture, but the photo sure looked pretty. Or you can have the reverse where you are looking at a stock photo and it truly is the color and it’s because it is supplied or bought from the re-sellers' suppliers… I am not saying you can’t have great photos you took yourself, I know I like mine, but they are my customers, my friends, and family and I work hard on my product photos, but you can still tell they are not perfect and not airbrushed..

• Names, I have seen multiple handmade lines that are not even changing the names of the product when they buy it from the supplier! Ones I see a lot of, the exact name or variation of names, Dragonfly/Chameleon, Antique Copper, Coral Reef, Patina, a new one I see a lot is Duochrome colors, or color shifting, etc… In fact a while ago I listed one of these in my shop to show it’s not unique to that shop/maker, anyone can get it and it's not made by them. Now I don’t think it’s bad to offer some micas for customers who want to mix their shades to have more shine or shimmer, etc… but if the line is solely based on colors they don’t make… to me, it’s a problem. I hate to say it, but most of the bright, rainbow type colors that are trendy right now are not made by the sellers nor are they all natural, vegan, or even safe for your skin in some cases. Do your own test, you could buy a set from any of the shops and they will be the same with just a different label. Compare the photos. A lot of the shades you see over and over are just mica pigments or they can be called pure pigments etc, but here is the thing with mica; is mainly translucent and has no staying power on its own. So you are buying a pigment that will rub, sweat, or fall off! They are made to be mixed into fillers and ingredients that give them the staying power they need.
• Ask questions, it’s not a bad thing! I answer questions all the time and I love it! Do they only sell one product ie: eye shadows? How long have they been in business making makeup? Review history of their line? Do they mix using a base they don’t make? Bottom Line; Find out who you are buying from.

I only say all this cause I have seen it all! I have literally had customers buy my makeup, decide they love it and will never buy from anyone else again. Then a month later they have their own makeup shop and including items I don’t make yet and say it’s handmade by them. While I am enthused about their heightened interest in mineral makeup, I am concerned about the claim. It is highly unlikely, at best, to be able to learn to create a line of mineral makeup, design labels and packaging, and get professional photos taken in a single month’s time. I know it took me at least 2-3 to get everything ready to launch, I feel the need to protect my art and my customers and that’s why I am being so bold in sharing all this… I have worked hard for the recognition and awards my line has received and I work hard to continually give back to those who need it. I have invested my life into providing my customers with a unique shop, names, collections, and photos. I hope this helps you – the consumer – out a bit and I hope you continue to buy handmade!

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Keeping you Pretty & Healthy,
Rae

In an effort to keep going green you can now view our Makeup Tips & Ticks info here!