My Philosophy...

I find all types of women want different looks and like to achieve the look as if it took no effort at all from your:

A) Natural Beauty
B) Classic & Timeless Beauty
C) Corporate Chic Beauty
D) Trendsetter/Fashionista Beauty
E) Glamorous Beauty
F) Around the Way Girl Beauty

Women wear clothes according to their moods… no different when it comes to make-up.
The reason why the fashion industry and make-up go perfectly hand in hand together.

My perfect flawless equation is: Natural Beauty +Classic/Timeless Beauty = Understated Glam with emphasis either on the eyes or the lips.
All these looks are attainable and wearable with the right attitude.
You know “attitude is everything” as my friend Keith Harrell wrote about in his book. I took these looks women wanted and incorporated it into a collection of moods for the N2Beauty Cosmetics and Skincare line.
A bold, alluring, sexy, intelligent & chic approach to makeup, which I call the B.A.S.I.C collection. Every look you crave is created in one of these categories.
If you think you are ordinary be extraordinary! You got to be yourself and work what you got.
Be Beautiful
N2

The Come Up...

I worked at a cosmetics counter in the middle of the mall for years. It is where I truly studied my craft and became an artist. As a make-up artist I’ve done magazine photo shoots, fashion shows, a few celebs and weddings.
I will tell you there is nothing like the everyday woman. In the mall you’re not getting the celebrity or the model with decent skin, you do get lucky but for the most part they come to you with problems skin and makeup but 9 out of 10 times there are emotional problems as well. I’m doing makeovers on all types of skin, different nationalities, different undertones, young women to senior citizens. This was real boot camp for me, I was learning and earning as they say.
My approach is always a consultative one which made me standout from most counter girls. I actually talked you through every application and brush stroke I did and showed you how to do it yourself. Women left my counter looking good and were educated about their skin and the application of makeup. They divulged intimate secrets about their beauty fears and felt alive when they got answers along with tools, tips and product to take care of them.
It was a great education for me on what consumers wanted and looked for in a product. It’s the everyday woman that is the subject for my own makeup and skincare line. It addresses all the different undertones and color concerns like the former United Colours of Benetton eggshell, beige, tan, olive, caramel, chocolate and the deepest cocoa.
There are great products in every line; I just felt that some lines stopped focusing on the core customer (the everyday woman) at least as a consumer junkie. Until I created my line in 2003, I felt some of them didn’t target all our colors and hues. My focus for my line was to address the needs of the everyday divas- all of us are not recognized worldwide nor have paparazzi in our face. We are seen on the true runway of life… at the office, on the train, dropping our kids at school, nailing that new client, starting businesses. It’s good to be seen while putting your best face forward and I am honored to paint those faces on a daily basis.
Be Beautiful!
N2

"You're trying to be grown"

I’m glad my mother didn’t let me wear makeup until I was “old enough”.
Old enough turned out to be nearly the end of my senior year in H.S! Which was hard as a rule to follow. All of my girlfriends around my way were Spanish... they were able to wear eyeliner, blush and lipstick at like 13yrs old. By the time they were 16yrs old they were pros. I tried to sneak and wear eyeliner while at their house or during my freshman/sophomore year in high school. I would get caught by forgetting I had it on or  not washing it off by the time my mother came home from work. When I did remember, I would try and scrub it off in the bathroom but being new to the game I didn’t know that you needed more than water to remove all traces. My mother would raise her eyebrow and say, “Oh you’re trying to be grown?” as she proceeded to punish me. I was mad at the time and thought she just didn’t understand. Looking back now... I’m grateful she didn't let me wear make-up like that. Had she allowed me to go all out, I would not have the skin I do now and I would have looked like I was trying to grow up too fast.
Be Beautiful
N2

When did you first fall in love with makeup?

Wow. I fell in love with makeup the same time I fell in love with the theatre...Backstage! My mother was putting my costume on in the dressing room at the Beacon Theatre. I had butterflies in my stomach and a big kool-aid grin for 2 reasons:
1) I was getting ready to dance my little heart out on Broadway again which would turn into an annual 10 year run from the time I was 3yrs old.
2) It was the only time I was allowed to wear makeup and feel glamorous like a celebrity. My mother only allowed it because we were onstage and everything about it as a young girl was a big deal. In my house the rule for my sister and I was no makeup until we were 18, which in my mother's language meant "not 'till you're grown." I use to dream about wearing makeup as I watched my mom get dolled up to go out with my father. She had 2 makeup kits Charlie & Fashion Fair and they were full of all these colors and I would watch her do her face in the bathroom and just be in awe.

I knew that for one night and one night only she would transform my face too. I was 8 yrs old and it was the 3rd Sunday in June. After getting my costume on right she then would take out her makeup kits for me. I proudly tilted my face forward and she began to fill my eyelids with color to match my costume, then she would put blush on my cheeks as she made me make a face like a fish to contour my cheeks lol. She then would turn the tube of her favorite lipstick and get the lip brush, because it last longer she would say as she told me to part my lips, she brushed on the color of burgundy swoop to the right then to the left same on the top lip. I would rub them together and make that sound like pah (smile) as I've seen her do many a nights. As a finishing touch she stroked my eyelashes with the brush wand and say," a lady just isn't a lady without her mascara." She would dip this big brush in some powder and dust it over my whole face and stand back and look at her work saying,"That's my baby".
She let me look in the mirror and with all the wonderment in my eyes all I could say was,"wow, I am as pretty as you."
Ladies and Gentlemen... A Star was born.

These experiences before my infamous senior prom transformation was truly what gave me the passion I have for makeup that infuses my professional and technical training.