I love makeup! I love artsy, fartsy things (that is not even a word, but it makes me laugh!).  So from time to time, I will share some makeup tips, stories, blurbs about the adventures I cross.  I cannot promise perfect pictures, his hilarious sense of humor (he makes me laugh SO hard!).  But I can promise to do what I can to make it a fun read!  Maybe even educational once in awhile! LOL!  Guys that read this, you may even be able to surprise that wife, fiance or girlfriend once in awhile and she will fall even more in love with you!  This is an old post from my previous blog,  that has a lot of good information. Please leave feedback, we love to hear your thoughts and get to know you better! ENJOY!

So now for a beauty topic!  Yeah! *claps excitedly* So, you may know those tools that help us look our best each day. That help glide color onto our “canvas”?  Yes,  I am talking about your makeup brushes.  Let me ask you this…When is the last time you cleaned them and I mean really cleaned those puppies out?   I bet it’s been awhile.  Before I started into this field, I used the brushes that came with the makeup I bought. *shrug*  Because surely they wouldn’t put it in there, if it wasn’t what you were supposed to use right? *insert buzzer sound here* WRONG!

Makeup brushes are essential in a great makeup application and if you don’t have them…I highly recommend investing in a good, quality set.  However, your makeup brushes are like hair and we are talking the kind, you have on your head (not literally) but they need to be washed and cared for.  Once a month is a good cleaning and if you use more makeup than normal in a month, then twice is great.  The reason for washing is simple, BACTERIA.  You wash your face each night (or should be doing so!) You wash your hair several times a week (or should be doing so!) You use your makeup brushes on your face most every day and near your eyes and nose.  That “breakout” that you had last week…well it may not be from the source you thought it was.  It could very well be bacteria from your brushes.  So, here are some tips to care for those prized little possesions!

1) A mild shampoo (I like to use baby shampoo)

2) A clean towel or paper towels

3) A cup or a brush stand

4) Warm water

&

5) YOU listening to your favorite tunes on the ipod! (I do this all the time and I even dance!)

BRUSH CLEANING:

Get the head of your brush wet in the water, pour a bit of shampoo in the palm of your hand and gently make a circular motion, while “washing in the shampoo. Rinse and repeat until water runs clear. Try not get the entire brush wet because your brushes do have glue, to hold the hair in place.  Too many times and they could start to fall out.  Gently squeeze the water out of the brush and softly run over the towel.  Then let dry, don’t let it lay flat on the towel because of a chance of mildew forming (Yucky!) Make your way through each brush and you will be living bacteria free!

Well, I hope this finds you all well and in good spirits.  Wether you are tackling your to do list like I am, or you have performed a 5 star superman dive back into the middle of your bed remember…give it your best & do it in style, YOUR style!

*hugs*
~JD~

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DUCKETT FAMILY…I was so excited to hear about your contests. I have enjoyed all of your wonderful photos and am so excited to have a chance to win. I have three beautiful boys that are full of personality. Your photos see a part of people that they may not even see themselves, as if you capture a part of their personality, their charm, their soul. I want to have you capture that light in my boys that I see and love.  Please consider my family.  Thank you!! and to all of you voting. Pick me Pick me..

Saedis D

BRYANT FAMILY…Hi my name is Cindy. I have two kids named Andrew (14) and Ashley (11). We would love to have our family picture taken together. We have never done anything like this before and it would mean a lot to everyone in this family. I am a hard working single mother with two amazing kids that always help out as much as they can. (Andrew) “I want to say that this is very important to my mom I really want this for her”. (Ashley) “since this is important to my mommy I would love her to take this opportunity for our family to have our first professional family photo.”

Thanks, From the Bryant Family

When I was young I wanted to be a marine biologist. I love fish and water that much. When other kids in school were checking out “normal kid books” from the library , I was bringing home books like “The anatomy of a fish” and “Ocean life cycles” and “Pelagic fish of the Pacific.” Over time I decided that it maybe wasn’t for me as a lot of it involves sitting in a lab (which I would hate) but I would have followed through if I could have only done the water part of it (like the stuff you see on TV). I am a certified SCUBA diver though and it’s been far too long since I’ve gone on a dive. One of my Birthday presents was a certification brush up and I’m looking forward to going on a few dives later this summer with my buddy Chaz.

So by now you are thinking “Ok Chris, great, but what does this have to do with the title of this post?” I’ll tell you. I think we are messing up and messing up bad. We depend on our oceans way more than we even comprehend right now. Science is really still in it’s infancy as far as the oceans go and every day they are learning more and more that makes them go “Uh oh, we kinda already messed that up.” Ocean life is collapsing at an alarming rate. The truth is it may already be too late for some things, but it certainly isn’t too late for all of them. We, the humans on this planet, are solely responsible for messing it up and we alone have the power and technology to make it right.

I don’t believe we all need to start living like hipee’s. I certainly don’t (I do love granola though). But I do believe we can make a difference with our voice and pocket book. I often send letters to my local politicians (JD just learned something about me) about the mess on the Columbia river (gillnets, pollution, spill, etc.) and I believe it makes a difference. If we are quiet and think it’s someone else’s problem, or “they” will fix it, we are sadly mistaken. The truth is I think most people just truly don’t know what’s going on. They don’t know that there are bills trying to set up marine preserves that are getting shot down by oil companies. They don’t know that oil companies are trying to tap into existing marine preserves and what that would mean. Same is true for logging, construction, factories dumping waste, and on and on.

My wish is that everyone gets informed. Read something you normally wouldn’t. Watch a show you normally wouldn’t. See what’s going on out there on our planet and then decide where you stand. I’m not asking anyone to become and activist. Hell, I don’t do as much as I should. But just knowing the facts when it’s time to vote would make a HUGE impact. Talk about it with your friends, talk about it with your kids. Little things that take almost no effort like that can actually make a big difference. The bottom line is “they” is actually you and I.

This video is a great place to start. Not only does it have some amazing imagery, but it has a powerful message as well. I have seen Brian Skerry’s work several times before (he shoots for National Geographic) but never heard him speak and had no idea he loved the oceans as much as he does. Kudos to him for speaking out and trying to educate people. I hope you enjoy the video.

Many of those that know us in real life, know that we (Chris and I) don’t do much without our little Chiquita banana with us. We are a trio and that is how we travel most of the time! However, as parents, best friends, and partners in life, we do need some “one on one” time here and there. SOOOO…this was a nice treat to have dinner together, just the two of us.  We were hungry and tired from our fun engagement shoot.  We were indecisive and couldn’t settle on any one item.  I am sure we were “those” customers and our server was thinking “Seriously, people the options aren’t that hard and it’s not written in Greek or anything.”  However, she held up her patience and was polite and attentive the entire time.  I couldn’t help but think that this has been our second or third time out, where the service has been really great.  Is it because people are trying to please with kindness in our “recession” or have we just been lucky!? I don’t know, but I LIKE  it!

We are sitting there enjoying our amazingly, HUGE, scrumptious dinner.  Talking about life and our little lizard that we have been building a new habitat for.  When our server, “sheriff” (They all have little sheriff type badge, name tags) comes to our table and says “Look over there, they are getting engaged RIGHT now!”  Low and behold, we had just received our entrees and this gentleman is down on his knee, proposing to his girlfriend! I don’t care who you are and especially if you are a woman, this melts your heart! It’s like a movie!  The entire area of the restaurant we were sitting in, was watching and we cheered as she said, “YES!”  Chris and I continue eating and I see this gentleman taking pictures with his cell phone…I said to Chris “We should ask them if we can take a picture for them with our camera.”  Chris said “Sure go ask them.”  So, I abandon my warm dinner and approach their table, we have our introductions, I tell them what we do and they “would LOVE a picture, because they don’t have any together.”  What are the odds, that we had JUST finished an engagement shoot, and had our gear in the truck?  So “Mr. Amazing” goes and gets the “tools” from the automobile.

We get a few pictures for William and Vena and their evening engagement.  Documenting the beginning of their lives together. We believe someone will be moving from Alaska sooner, rather than later. ;P  Also, that someone may need some intense massage therapy, from helping some little kids, throw a bottle into the ocean. It’s funny how kindness, when given with your whole heart and expecting nothing in return, finds it’s way back to you.  We made our way back to our dinner “out” and even though it is, luke warm now and being boxed up… We wouldn’t trade it for anything!  For it’s the happiness on William and Vena’s face that make it worth it.  That makes our “job” a great one to have!  CONGRATULATIONS William & Vena, may this life shower you with many blessings!

JD & Chris

After we found our way back down the trail, which was a bit easier in the humid weather.  We made our way into downtown Portland.  It was a bit chilly! It looked and felt like we were going to have a huge down pour of rain.  Through it all, John and Liz stayed in a great mindset.  Touching, hugging and smooching once in a while too! It is so fun to see two people IN LOVE and just watch how they  interact together.  Especially when you can see that they truly enjoy, each others company.  I guarantee in this life and the span of their relationship, these two will always be laughing!  Here are a few images from their night.  John and Liz we look forward to your wedding day on 8-9-10! Woot! Woot!

THE PRIZE!
A free family portrait session with CL Steele Studio ($250 value) and a free 20×30 fine art wall print ($350 value) of your favorite image from the session!

THE DETAILS!
Make no mistake, this is not some cheesy Sears portrait session where you stand in front of some craptacular background and smile big for the camera. This is an awesome, fun filled, location session at a location of your choice! Maybe we go to your favorite park, maybe we go downtown, maybe it’s at your house, maybe we do a combination, it’s up to you! Our goal on portrait sessions is to get you in an element that you love being in so that your true personalities shine through. This session usually lasts a couple of hours and goes at a very relaxed, fun pace. We want to show you a set of images at the end where you smile and say “That’s totally us!”

The 20×30 print is also not some Walmart quality print either. No sir, not for our clients. I will NOT let you hang some piece of crap up in your home with my name on the back! This print will be printed on fine art linen paper using archival inks so it will last for a very long time. I also will have it mounted on a very thin, very rigid material called styrene so that it will not warp, curl or otherwise distort if in a humid environment (I’m sure you have seen pics do this). This print will WOW guests to your home when they see it. I guarantee it!

HOW TO ENTER!
Send an email to CONTEST@CLSTEELE.COM with a paragraph or two about your family and why you think you should win, and a pic of your family (any pic will do – cell phone, snapshot, whatever you got). You are more than welcome to think outside the box here too. Maybe your family is you and your dog. Maybe you would like to nominate another family you think deserves this prize. Be creative, be fun, show us why you or someone you know needs this prize. The deadline to enter is FRIDAY JULY 9th. That’s only two weeks so get on it people!

HOW TO WIN!
JD and I will look through the entries and select a few finalists after the entry deadline. We will then post their entries here on the blog and let the readers decide via poll who gets the prize! We are doing it this way for two reasons. One, we have personal connections with many of you and it would kill us to have to choose only one. And two, it’ll be fun!

SOME RULES:
Every contest has to have rules right, so here are a few for this one.
1. This contest if for the people that have “liked” us on Facebook. The name you are entering with must match your name on Facebook (or note otherwise). If you haven’t “liked” us but want to participate in the contest, no problemo, just click on the link at the bottom of this post and “like” us. Two seconds of your time and you are in!
2. The prizes in this contest are as stated. No exchanges or credits will be given if you don’t want the prize.
3. One entry per person/family
4. We are doing this to give back and have some fun. If you want to complain, whine, or stomp your feet about anything to do with this contest you are welcome to send and email to the complaints department at stopwhining@dontbemean.com

That’s it! Have some fun with this and good luck to everyone! We can’t wait to see your entries!

The really cool thing about being an adult (even though I am extremely jealous of  NOT getting summer break from school ;P) Is that we now, get to experience the summer, through the eyes of our daughter.  Today, we sat on the back porch reading a COOK BOOK (yes, we love new recipes and sauces!) basking in the rays of sunshine and watched our daughter ride around on her bike with her friend.  They were dancing, laughing and thinking that they are WAY TOO COOL!  It just makes me smile.  It’s the small things in life…right?

Popsicles, flip flops, dribbling icecream cones, coconut lotion, Iced tea, camp fires and the sunburn you got because you forgot the sunblock! Cherished are the adventures we share as a family, that really enjoys being with eachother!  What are your summer traditions…what makes this time of year great for you?  Let us know! BRING ON the days of summer! Oh my!

X’s & O’s
JD

I guess I also am okay with this because…I have pictures! =) This is my “Oh SWEET revenge”!  You know the pictures your Mom pulls out and waves around “Oh my gosh! Look how cute you were!” and the stories only begin here…Well, now I know why parents take so many pictures *insert evil little grin here*  We are all for letting our daughter express herself.  Since Kindergarten, I have given her the option of  two or three outfits and let her pick out, the one SHE wanted to wear.  As she has gotten older…well we let her pick her own outfits for the most part.

So, I am sitting at my computer desk having my morning cup of heaven (coffee).  Waiting for the “almost tween” to emerge from the bedroom to have breakfast. Things are starting to take a bit longer in our morning routine as she is now,  straightening the cowlick on the back of her head (she inherited from the camera guy ;P)  Because “It looks really weird sticking up and people stare at it”.  Earrings MUST match outfit and we have to have at least 10 PEACE sign items on shirts, scarf, bag or leggings.  ENTER “tweeny bopper” please keep reading but visualize…Black shirt with red letters, navy blue polka dotted (rainbow dotted) leggings,  BRIGHT pink leg warmer slipper socks, pulled up OVER the leggings (to the knees) and so gingerly topped with brown boots…oh yes, let me add… the purple zebra printed hoodie to finish the “LOOK” (the cherry on top).   *Cough*choke* I Grab the camera and I think to myself “What did she do to her HAIR!!!?”  Oh yes, *nodding head right now* she has braided embroidery floss into a side braid,  on her head! I assume these are rainbow brights extensions….I don’t know and she has flip, kinked her hair out.  =) Whatever…*drinking more coffee and grinning suspiciously now*

It has been noted in the school office that – “Her outfits are very colorful and she always looks nice”.  I know they,  like me have had kids her age and I know from the looks on their faces, one day we’ll miss it.  I am glad I can be an open minded parent (most of the time) We give her the reins to be her own person.  What a beautiful, COLORFUL person she is, and her visions are quite dramatic!  But what isn’t at this age…*flashlight in hand* we will keep marching on.  Some people will look and stare, I will just hold her hand and smile.  I have pictures …lots of pictures *snicker*  We only get this one time…We are just going to embrace and love every minute of it!

XOXO~
JD

You know that couple you meet and you just know that they are supposed to be together?  Well, meet Mac and Jessica!  They are THAT couple.  Always laughing, touching, sharing, and looking for the best things in life.  Their wedding day was just an all around great day.  Their colors were Champagne and Black, they had rich cream/champagne colored  flowers with accents of golds, greens, and very light, wine colored  tones.   The Cake was designed by the bride herself and her sketch, was brought to life by Seri Lopez of Serious Cake.  They had mouthwatering foods by Catering by Laurie.  Plenty of food and spirits to go around and the guests were enjoying themselves plenty.

There was an abundance of dancing, chatting, laughing and A LOT of memory making between family and friends.  It was a night that will be marked on Mac & Jessica’s calendar for a lifetime and a night we will NOT forget.  Thank you for having us with you on your wedding day.  It was a pleasure doing your makeup, you were a truly stunning bride.  Did you like Mac’s lipstick? Just a shade darker than his oh so natural! *giggle*   We are honored to call you, OUR friends!  Take a sneak peek, at a few photographs of their amazing night and stay tuned for more, coming soon…

Dinner was really good with a spread of Onion Rings, Baby Back Ribs, Chicken Tenders and many other things.  We enjoyed the food and the conversation was even better.  It’s so fun to just let go, laugh and forget about the chaos of  life for a few hours.

I think it is a rare thing in life when you meet people in your adult ages, where things just work out.  You know…the wives get a long, the hubbies get a long, the KIDS get a long.  Sometimes, it would be so much easier to be little again.  To walk up to people and go “Hey, wanna be my friend?  We can play tag or go down the slide or something!?” LOL   Unfortunately,  as we get older we build walls and don’t have the time.  So it get’s a bit more difficult.  So it’s like a cherished jewel, when you find friends you can let loose with like that.

In the end we ate WAY too much popcorn, peanut M & M’s, Reese’s pieces, Soda and dinner! Spent too much on the animal crane.  However, I will add that I dominated the animal crane. I won a baby SHREK and some other little stuffed guy! Two for one baby, YEAH!  But, I think we burned our calories laughing hard, and WALKING to the movie theater.   Taking with us fun memories and looking forward to the next time we get together.  =)

XOXO’s

jd