Beauty School Workshops - Winter 2013

Last week SF Gate and SF Unzipped (the online style section of The San Francisco Chronicle) gave my workshops some fantastic coverage with this wonderful article.

Thanks to the flattering article I have had a lot of inquiries about dates and details of upcoming workshops, so I wanted to provide all of the information for this winters dates and locations in San Francisco.

First up is the Sex Kitten workshop this week at Makeshift Society in Hayes Valley on Wednesday November 13th. I believe that Classic Cat Eye and Bright Lips can be worn by everyone! And this is my last Cat Eye workshop of the year! Joining me as a guest will be Elizabeth Street Cosmetics with their incredible lipstick and gloss line. Also as a bonus I am currently set up with a pop-up shop at Makeshift Society so you can concurrently shop my whole Fox & Doll specialty beauty line and my handmade retro inspired jewelry line. Sign up here on the Makeshift Society site.

And then the next week I have an all new location and edition of the Smokey Eye workshop at the fabulous Veer & Wander in the neighborhood between Upper Market Street, Downtown and Hayes Valley, sometimes referred to as "The Deco Ghetto", on Brady Street at Market. And if the notice is too short for you, I'll be doing a repeat again in December. Extra bonus for both these dates include 20% discount on all beauty products from their Apothecary that night and this lovely Onyx shadow from Kjaer Weis, a $44 value!
Dates are Monday November 11th & Monday December 16th
Sign up by calling Veer & Wander at 415.864.3012

And of course the original Smokin' Hot Babe workshop at Workshop SF. Come get your Smokey Eyes and Neutral Lip Color on to complete a full babelicious look in time for all those upcoming evening parties.

And possibly the last date of my 2013 workshops will be Hair Teasing 101 at Workshop SF. I've only held this workshop a few times and it is quickly becoming popular, being consistently sold out. So if you are looking to pull out some seriously sexy new hair looks for the holidays then you better sign up for Wednesday December 11th.

Check out pictures from previous workshops to see what your in for, posted here in my Beauty School album on the Fox & Doll facebook page.

I look forward to seeing all you Bay Area ladies roaming around in hot red lips, effortless looking sexpot hair, classic cat eyes and super babe smokey eyes! And if you can't make these dates hit me up for private lessons, listed here on Styleseat, or by setting up a private session of one of these workshops for your own girls night.

Sunshine! A Love Hate Affair

June! Well I know it isn't officially summer yet but for me June marks the beginning. We head into my favorite months of June, July and August, which mean more sun and time outside. Well in foggy San Francisco we don't get as much of the heat and sun this time of year as we would all like but regardless of the temperatures I want to remind you to be careful out there! The sun is so strong and seems to be getting stronger, and since the sun is what causes most of the signs of aging that we visually see in our skin, not to mention the threat of skin cancer, we want to be very careful. A few weekends ago I was out in the sun for exactly 30 minutes from 5:00 to 5:30PM with my friend at the opening of a community garden on campus of the school she works at. Thirty minutes at 5:00PM and she had a sunburn on her arms!!!

If you know me you know I adore the sunshine and warm weather. But I also know the power and danger of the direct sunlight. Being super fair skinned and having a history of Melanoma Cancer in my family I am ultra careful. I was so proud in April to come back from four days by the pool in Palm Springs with not an inch of burn on me. So I wanted to share with you my top tips for keeping your skin burn free, and also what to do if the sun does get you.

#1 Wear sunscreen everyday. Apply your facial sunscreen prior to getting dressed, this way you can take it down onto your chest area and arms without worrying about getting it on your clothing and you have all the spaces covered in between where your clothes and your bare skin meet. I adore this tinted moisturizer and this sheer one.

#2 Keep sunscreen with you at all times. It does need to be reapplied during the day. A powdered wand style such as this one from Mineral Fusion is ideal. You can add it on over your makeup and not worry about getting it all over your hands. It's the perfect lunch break or walk in the park SPF refresher. 

#3 Have SPF in multiple forms. Sometimes I have three kinds in my bag. One I like for my face, one for my arms and legs and another in a spray form for my back that I can't reach. Why not, you will eventually use them all up so have ones for the proper places on your body. My two favorite body ones are this one from Mineral Fusion, which is actually a facial one but who cares as long as it works, and this spray one from Kinesys.

#4 Cover up! Put on long sleeves, pull a blanket or towel over your legs, get a hat. All these things help, wouldn't you rather be extra warm for a bit than be hot and uncomfortable from a burn for a week and a half.

#5 Get a parasol. I just love the idea of this super stylish way to protect yourself from the sun. Bring the parasol back in style!

If you do get burned try these remedies:

#1 Drink lots of water to stay hydrated.
#2 Take Vitamin E supplements to reduce inflammation from your burn.
#3 Eat foods high in vitamin c (citrus fruits, spinach), beta-carotene (carrots, kale), vitamin E (nuts, olives) and flax seed oil.
#4 Place sliced cucumbers or cold wet black tea bags on your skin to help soothe.
#5 Take a cool bath with added baking soda.
#6 Keep skin moisturized by using a lotion with shea butter.
#7 Mix lavender oil and water together in a small spray bottle and keep it in your refrigerator.  Mist your skin throughout the day to soothe the burn.
#8 Use straight aloe vera to relive the pain. Or use products that contain it, my favorite for face is Juice Beauty's Soothing Serum.

You'll notice there are a lot more remedies listed here than preventative measures, so seriously take those first few steps and save your skin! With these tips you can go ahead and let the sunshine in all year long!

Images via myvintagevogue.com and glamoursurf.com
Be careful, you'll be obsessed with these sites!
And for more of my own vintage swim inspiration visit my pinterest

Harry's Shave ♥ Fox & Doll Approved

I am excited to try these new razors, and equally excited to give them as gifts. Beautifully designed, with top notch reviews from both men and women and really reasonably priced (razor price starts at $10 and replacement blades under $2). What more could you ask for! Well, one of the two founders is also one of the co-founders of Warby Parker, one of my favorite eyeglasses companies (I admittingly own 3 pairs!). And similar to Warby they have a business model that gives back. For every order they donate a blade or dollar equivalent to an organization that shares their goals. A big thumbs up for everything about this company. Oh, and free shipping!

Use this unique link to place your order!
https://www.harrys.com/?ref=1b8959bcae

Ladies, if you are wondering like I was if they are going to make ones specifically for us gals, someone from Harry's told me that while female customers are loving the current design for themselves there IS something in the works. I'll keep you updated!

Fox & Doll approved! ♥

Foxy Nails

I have recently been playing with many fun nail styles and have been inspired by some of the local nail artists we have here in San Francisco. Mia of Sparkle SF gave me amazing nails for my Palm Springs Vacation. These included a sunset fade, lots of glitter and some mod black and white stripes. It was perfection! And last weekend I took a workshop from Taylor of SF Party Nails and learned many new techniques I can't wait to try out (see my super glittery girly samples below). If you want to learn how to do it yourself check out Taylor's super fun classes at Workshop SF, where I also teach my Fox & Doll Beauty School Rebel makeup series.

I plan to play more with different styles, and get my designs looking cleaner (ie no more messy edges at the cuticle).

 essie 'Who Is The Boss' and OPI Sephora 'Are You Glistenin?'

 

essie 'Mod Squad', essie 'Splash of Grenadine', Zoya 'Heather', essie 'Who Is The Boss',

Mineral Fusion 'Glint of Mint', all topped with essie 'Matte About You'

My favorite 'three free' polishes I am loving are Mineral Fusion, Zoya, Fanchromatic, and Floss Gloss. The last two are also San Francisco made, yay! In case you don't know, you want to stay away from the following ingredients in your polishes: formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl phthalate. 

If you would like to know more about why these ingredients are to be avoided please read this:
http://greenbeautyteam.com/answers-advice/makeup/go-qthree-freeq-for-safer-nails/

The more I am wearing polish the more I will be switching over to using polishes free on these ingredients so watch here on the blog and on my instagram for great 'three free' color options and nail inspiration! I am a little addicted at the moment...

essie stickers strips 'Embrace The Lace'

 

essie 'Turquoise & Caicos'

Follow my blog...

In an effort to get with the times I have added a Bloglovin account:
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Some other blogs I like to keep up on lately are: http://blog.modcloth.com/
http://makeshiftsociety.com/blog/
http://www.keikolynn.com/
http://www.calivintage.com/
http://www.ashleyording.com/
http://www.puglypixel.com/
http://www.creatingspacemindfulliving.com/blog
http://thegreenproductjunkie.blogspot.com
http://thebeautydepartment.com

Palm Springs! Finally!

I have been wanting to go to Palm Springs for forever it seems. Thanks to my gal pals we finally did it this month! I have fantasies of returning very soon, so expect this to be the first of hopefully many posts about this lovely desert oasis. 

One of my favorite parts of the trip was driving around and looking at the houses and neighborhoods. We also stopped off at some amazing hotels to see their decor and bars, The Parker was my favorite of these. With interiors designed by Jonathan Adler, we had fun taking some photos in the impressive super 70's loungy lobby, then wondering around the maze of the seemly endless tropical grounds.

Another highlight was the vintage shopping which we didn't get the chance to dive very deep into, but another great reason to return. My favorite we found was Mr. Cox Vintage, with a super classy selection of well cared for glamorous pieces. Plus I got the chance to wear a few of my favorite warm weather dresses, including this hot little full length tropical number below.

And how could I not mention our perfect accommodations at the Ace Hotel. The rooms were super comfortable and the food at King's Highway Diner (a restored Denny's) was excellent, served poolside and open late night. I adore everything about the Ace! I was also thrilled to find out a friend from Estie School is new the Lead Esthetician there, so if you go make sure to get a facial at The Feel Good Spa!

Chances are I will be back in Palm Springs very soon!

Blog Redesign and Relaunch

April 2013! The blog has been redesigned and relaunched! Welcome!

More pictures and projects to come and I am so excited to share all I have been working on. This updated version will include my JEWELRY and design work as always, but will also include more about my hair and makeup work posted under BEAUTY, including product recommendations and reviews. I will also include more projects posted under MAKE, including recipes and things you can make at home. This new MAKE section is likely to include anything from information from the kitchen (I love to cook and make cocktails), to fun crafty things for your home, to blending up custom beauty products. Only time will tell, so join me and check back frequently! And you will see lots more to come in the COLLABORATIONS and CUSTOM sections, I assure you I have been busy and have so much I want to share! Lastly keep an eye on EVENTS, I have lots of fun workshops coming up.

I hope you like how I have reorganized and categorized the blog for ease of search and interest. All feedback is welcome.

While I now plan to post weekly in each category it will still remain that the most up to date daily information on what I am working on and inspired by will be at my two Facebook pages:
Shana Astrachan Jewelry
Fox & Doll

And I am increasingly obsessed with Instagram & Pinterest so please come follow me:
http://instagram.com/shanaastrachan/
http://pinterest.com/shana_astrachan/

So many new posts to come, I am overwhelmed with all I want to share. In the meantime here is a little tutorial I did last year for the Creativebug Blog! Cheers!

Special thanks to the following superstar creatives for the assistance with the relaunch of this blog:
Suto Designs: Don't you love my new banner! This will change out seasonally to reflect my current projects and inspiration. This special lady has the perfect eye that suits my retro vintage esthetic.
Pugly Pixel: This amazingly talented gal and rad blogger offers the online course CSS Pretty which empowered me to take on this redesign without having to hire it out. I love a good challenge!
Meighan O'Toole: One complementary consultation with this lady changed the future of my business, I am grateful!
Makeshift Society: I just completed a 3 month residency at the Co-Working space for creatives, hence my break from even my usual minimal blog posts. You will see more to come about my projects that resulted from this time at Makeshift and about how the space has inspired me and helped me take my business to the next level!