Tuesday, January 13, 2015

You've Stumbled Upon My Old-School Blog, Gorgeous!

Hey muchachitas,

Welcome! This is my old Shake Your Beauty blog and website (circa 2005-2010). Thanks for visiting -- and feel free to stay -- but for updated posts and info about my books, check out my new site: www.shakeyourbeauty.com. Love ya, mean it.

xo,
Tia

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

This blog has moved


This blog is now located at http://shakeyourbeauty.blogspot.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://shakeyourbeauty.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Sunday Night Weepies

I love you guys. Really a lot.
xoxo,
Tia

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

I Love You, SYB Babes

Hi ladies,
I don't know how to say it. I guess I should just jump into it, since my keyboard is soaked with tears and my laptop will probably die in seconds. Next Tuesday, I will begin a full-time position as Beauty Director at Essence.com. Which means I'm also shutting down "Shake Your Beauty."

I know. I know. Believe me, it hurts me more than it hurts you. I feel like we're best friends. Sisters, even. Play cousins. You and I have been through five and a half years of love, laughter, marriages, babies, bad perms, migraines, Revlon Raisin Glaze Lipgloss, Q&A Wednesdays, a zillion posts about Tarte Cheek Stain and, and...well, LIFE. You don't know this, but you've gotten me through some really hard times. For three of our fives years together, I was going through a series of emotionally and physically traumatic IVF procedures. They kept failing and failing, and there were some really bleak times. YOU kept me smiling. Your comments, your emails...even all the drama over the Saks dress during AMBI-gate. Thank you. Girls, when I started SYB, I had no idea it would become so successful. I barely even knew what a blog was; all I knew was that I'd just left my post as Teen People's beauty director and wasn't ready to stop talking beauty. You helped me turn it into something that really mattered. We did it together! We rock!

How quickly my mood turned from despondent to rah-rah! I'm PMSing.

Recently, my life has taken some rather major turns...which I decided meant that the universe was telling me to switch some things up. This Essence.com position couldn't have come into my life at a more perfect time! I've always adored the magazine, the site, and Emil Wilbekin, Essence.com's irresistibly debonair managing editor (you also know him as the former Editor-in-Chief of Vibe and Giant). His vision for the site was so positively delicious and sexy that I was dying to be involved. Girls, as bittersweet as it is, I'm over-the-moon, hell-and-gone excited to begin this new chapter in my career. I really am. And I'm not moving to Siberia! Please, please follow me over to Essence.com! I have some really exciting stuff planned for the beauty and hair channels. Essence's digital staff is incredible, so I can do fun things I'd never have been able to pull off here (mainly because I thought the "ht" in "html" meant hot tamale).

Thank you so much for supporting SYB over the years, dear readers. You made it so fun for me. I'll always love you (especially the regulars...you know who you are). And even though the blog as we know it will be no longer, I'll send you updates here and there just so you know what's going on with me. And La Lina!

Here's what I know: You will ALWAYS be my SYB Babes. I don't care what other blogs you're into, or even if you never catch on to my orange blush thing. You'll always be my girls! Got that? Good. Now have a glorious Thanksgiving. I know what I'm thankful for!

Kisses, kisses, and mo' kisses,

Your Tia

Monday, November 23, 2009

AMAzing Alicia


Hi ladies,
So, what were your thoughts on the AMA? Here are mine:

* J Lo's performance was hilariously ill-advised (the champ is back? really?), and the fall before her Big Dance Break proved it. If you didn't see it, you never will...shortly after telling Ryan Seacrest on his radio show that "she meant to do that," the clip disappeared from the internet.

* I've had it up to here with Jermaine Jackson's painted-on sideburns. I'm tired of sitting idly by, doing nothing, while this man makes appearances with shoe polish smeared on the sides of his head. I need some answers. Oprah or somebody needs to confront him about this.

* Lady Gaga rules EVERYTHING. When she broke through the glass to bang the #$*t out of that piano, I died. LOVE. HER.

* Will I Am is a wiggly little thing, isn't he? As much as they annoy me, the Black Eyed Peas really did rock the crowd with that Nirvana/Rob Bass moment.

* Jay Z and Alicia Keys almost made me weep with love for New York. The lights will inspire you, indeed!


Speaking of Alicia and inspiration, didn't you think she looked particularly soft and feminine last night? Here's what her makeup artist, Ashunta Sheriff, had to say about the look:

“Alicia's look was inspired by her hand-beaded Armani Prive Gown. I focused on golden glowing skin, beautiful blue and burgundy eyes, soft pink shimmery cheeks, full lashes and light pink lips. On Alicia's skin, I used Cover Girl Queen Collection Natural Hue Minerals Bronzer in Light Bronze ($8.18)--its golden sparkly flecks gave her complexion a fabulous glow. Mary Kay Lipgloss in Pink Diamonds ($13) perfectly set off the look in a soft and subtle way. Finally, I topped off her eyes with Shu Uemura False Lashes ($29). I love their lashes because there's sooo many to choose from."


And thanks to Pantene celeb stylist Tippi Shorter (there she is, working her magic), Alicia's braided updo was twelve kinds of elegant. Here's how Tippi made it happen:

"Alicia recently got her hair colored a few shades lighter with Clairol, so I washed it with
Pantene Pro-V Color Revival Shampoo & Conditioner ($8.99). Then, I spritzed on
Pantene Pro-V Detangling Light Conditioning Spray ($4.99) to protect her hair before heat styling. To recreate the backwards Mohawk braid we did for Alicia's most recent music video, I sectioned the hair into three pieces. Then, I gathered the two outermost sections and secured them in ponytail using Ojon Animated Styling Cream ($26). Using the center section, I braided the center section from the nape of the neck to the front, making it a little off-center. I tucked the end of the braid underneath the main braid and secured with bobby pins. To finish the look, I used Ojon Tunu Elastik Hairspray ($25)."

Thanks for the insider info, Ashunta and Tippi!
xoxo,
Tia

Friday, November 20, 2009

Rita to the rescue


Hi ladies,
Yesterday, I had the distinct pleasure of getting my hair colored by one of the industry's most legendary colorists and favored Oprah guests, the lovely and talented Ms. Rita Hazan. She's responsible for highlighting luminaries like Jessica Simpson (she took her from blonde, to lovesick-over-John-Mayer brunette, and back to blonde), Britney Spears, Debra Messing, Michelle Williams, Ellen Pompeo, Rachel Weiz, Keyshia Cole and Renee Zellweger. Probably her most important celeb moment is La Lopez--circa '99, Rita gave J. Lo the honey-caramel streaks that became her signature look! Major! Anyway, hair was in such a state that I had no choice but to call on the best of the best. I showed up at Rita's eponymous 5th Avenue salon looking crazy...the bottom half of my hair was a mass of dead, brassy highlights, and the top half was scattered with errant greys. SO GROSS. I was hoping Rita could tell me there was a way to get a head full of cinnamon-y highlights that wouldn't damage my over-relaxed hair. I was sadly mistaken. Instead, she decided I needed to go for a deeper, richer color...a chestnutty/auburn vegetable die (ie, no harsh chemicals or bleach that would further damage my hair). So, I went for it, and let me tell you...my hair hasn't looked so glossy and healthy in YEARS. It's so shiny, so mink-like! Penelope Cruz is somewhere wailing with envy! Stay tuned for a picture...
Kisses,
Tia

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Happy First Birthday, La Lina!