Floor Nº 9 - A Beauty and Fragrance Blog

American Beauty

Happy 4th of July to my American friends and clients! I'm sure everyone is ready to head out on the water, to your local park or even your backyard. I, of course, have makeup on my mind. Supporting small business, especially American small business, is very important to me--even if they've grown to make it big! So, I figured I would make a little list of American beauty companies, big and small, for you to support! I tried to make sure their products were also made in the USA. If you know of any other companies please feel free to mention them in the comments below!

*To the best of my knowledge, these companies started in the US and also manufacture in the US. If you find an error, please correct me in the comments below.

Bare Escentuals

Benefit Cosmetics

Benjabelle Brush Tree

Besame Cosmetics

Bomber Betty Custom Cosmetics

Clean Brush Shampoo

Cult Nails

Dr. Bronner's Magic All-in-One Soaps

Fyrinnae Cosmetics

Jao Hand Sanitizer

Layrite Pomade

Lime Crime

Margarita Bloom Retro Vintage Beauty & Skincare

Morgana Minerals

philosophy

Sara Happ Lip Scrub

Senna Cosmetics

Smith's Rosebud Salve

Sugarpill Cosmetics

The Balm Cosmetics

Makeup Monday: The Kit Conundrum

A makeup artist's kit is very personal. We are responsible for choosing the products, organizing, and traveling with our makeup essentials. There are a variety of ways to pack and transport your kit, some more popular than others. However, every artist has to have a "vessel" of some sort to take your kit from job to job. I have seen artists use everything from school backpacks to fishing tackel boxes.

My first kit was a wheeled makeup case I received in makeup school. It quickly fell apart. So I took to the internet to see what other makeup artists were using and found the Zuca bag. It is all over YouTube and you will find many artists that love it. At first I loved my Zuca too, but it became cumbersome. The pouch system is a burden when you have little space to work, and I found you end up carrying a lot more product than necessary.

So, I moved on to a case with drawer inserts. It was great to work out of and took up much less space! However, the case wasn't very sturdy and soon started to fall apart as well. At the moment, the "It" bag for artists is the Stilazzi "Gone Topless" bag, pictured below (image from their site):

The quality is supposed to be superb. It offers the drawer compartments that I like, and it seems to have plenty of room and be sturdy. It retails for $350 USD. I would like to see and touch the item in person before making any decisions, so for now, this is what I use:

Yes, lovely readers, that there is your run of the mill carry on luggage set. And you know what? I love it. I use the bag for my hair items (and it rests perfectly on top of the suitcase). My brush belt fits snugly inside the suitcase's interior pocket. The outside zip pocket can be used for any last minute additions, paperwork or even towels. I use smaller travel bags to keep my makeup safe and secure on the inside. It allows me to take out as much as I need and keep everything nearby with easy access. It works great!

Remember, KISS! Keep It Simple...Silly ;)

Labels

American Beauty

Makeup Monday: The Kit Conundrum

My Favorite YouTube Channels

Blog Archive