Lana Condor's Beauty Looks Deserve A Few Love Letters

When a celeb beauty look ends up in the Refinery29 beauty team chat, it could go one of two ways. But every time a photo of Lana Condor (a.k.a. Lara Jean from the Netflix hit To All The Boys I've Loved Before) drops in, it's a stream of prayer hand emoji, all-caps OMGs, and exclamation points from everyone — so you know it's good. Scrolling through her Instagram feed, we find ourselves obsessing over her voluminous eyelashes and wondering if we should invest in ponytail extensions.

Aside from being one of this year's biggest breakout stars, Condor is a beauty queen in her own right. She manages to serve countless screenshot-worthy hair and makeup moments with every appearance. She's gone from an extra-long ponytail to an edgy bob, her cheekbones could practically blind you through the phone screen, and she isn't afraid to tango with bright eyeshadow. Let's just say... girl's beauty game deserves a few love letters, too. Check out her most stunning habits ahead.

Eye brushes and how to use them

Your make-up brushes are essential when creating a perfect look, and today I will focus on eye make-up brushes and my favourites for creating any look.

Blending brush

After you have added primer to your eye area, the next step is your soft transition colour. A transition colour is a shade that brings a soft wash of colour across the eye to blend into the skin and warms the eyelid with tone. For example, if you are creating a brown smokey eye, then one popular shade of transition colour would be a camel/sand tone.

For this, you'll need a soft, fluffy blending brush. One of my favourite blending brushes to use for transition colours and slightly darker tones is the Make-up Pro Store No.19 Brush (£11.50). This is a soft bristled brush that's the perfect length for light-blending techniques and will blend all eyeshadows so naturally into the skin.

I also love the Gucci face brush in #20 (£33). This is in the more luxury price bracket, but it really is the most soft and beautiful tool. The oval shape of the blending brush expertly brings shades together with smooth and professional control. Use on the eyelid for a dusting of colour, or smudge into the crease for all-over shading. Cool to the touch, the weight and feel of the double anodised aluminium handle is balanced for perfect control.

Bullet brush

This brush is ideal for smudging shadows underneath the eye area, and allows the eye make-up to look as consistent under the eye as it does on the lid and crease area. For this, try Morphe M321 Bullet Crease Brush (£2.10). This brush has a small, bullet-shaped head that's made from the finest sable hair bristles and works to fit into the smaller areas of the eye for targeted shadow application and blending.

Flat brush

The next step is one of my favourite: adding pigments and glitters. For loose and finely milled glitters and pigment, you need a dense brush in order to not only minimise fallout but to ensure you are able to pack on a intense coverage of product on the lid. For this I love Stila's #11 Flat Brush (£13). This is actually designed to be a concealer brush, but I adore how flat and densely packed the bristles are -you are able to get maximum effect with your embellishment products.

Liner

Once you have completed your embellishments, it is time to think about your liner. If you are not a lover of liquid liner and prefer to use a cream or gel liner, then you'll need a sharp-angled liner brush. This will allow you to create a sharp, clean line, but you need a super slick and sharp-angled liner brush to match. Step up Illamasqua Angled Liner Brush (£16). This is the perfect brush to define and create precision lines. It's ideal for eyebrow and eyeline definition and for sharpening beneath the eyebrow and around the lip with your foundation.

Cut crease

This will mostly affect all the make-up addicts and make-up artists, but I am consistently asked what my favourite brush to create a cut crease is. This is where you use a brush to map and outline the eye in a semicircle shape and add a gradient of colour to give an almost sunset effect on the eye.

To cut my crease with concealer, I love using MAC Cosmetics 242S Shader (£21). This is a firm brush shaped for the smooth, even application of powder or emollient products.

Top tips to brush up on

1. Always use a brush soap to clean your brushes, especially eye brushes, as you are using these in sensitive areas which are at a high risk of cross-contamination and potential infection. Wash brushes at least once a week if only being used on your own face. If being used on clients, they must be disinfected and cleaned between each client, and thoroughly soaped each night. Leave to dry naturally. Do not leave on a radiator or anywhere with excessive heat, as this will loosen the glue attached handles.

2. To keep your liner brush in as good condition as possible, use a small amount of wax to keep it clean and sharp.

3. Quality versus quantity. You do not need loads of eye brushes. Just be 100% happy with your choice of brush and ensure you always grab this when doing your make-up.

4. Always match your blending brushes to your eye size. For anyone with a large eye space, a fluffy blending brush is ideal. if you have a smaller eye space, a smaller, finer-tipped brush is preferable.

Double flowers twice as nice in pink 'Victorian Lady' abutilon

Abutilons (flowering maple) are such a common sight in Bay Area gardens, and there are so many colors now available, that one would be hard pressed to call another entry "new." But abutilon lovers will have to revise that thought in considering the truly double flowers on the, yes, new abutilon ‘Victorian Lady.' One look at the fully double pink blooms on this new variety and, well, we just might have an abutilon craze to match the tulip fever that set Holland afire in the 1600s.

Not only is the sight of a fully double abutilon flower quite an eye-opener, but the flowers on this small tree are conspicuously large, reaching 3 inches across. As on most flowering maples, the nodding, bell-shape flowers dangle from the slender new growth. Topping out at a modest 6 feet, this abutilon nonetheless produces an almost continuous parade of flowers throughout much of the year. Make sure to situate this tree where everyone can see. "No, really!" you'll be telling your neighbors. "A true double abutilon!"

Hummers will have no problem finding the plant, as abutilons are one of their favorite destinations. Blooming even in winter in the milder zones, abutilons provide much needed nectar for hummingbirds when other sources are scarce.

Although abutilons are sometimes thought of as a shade plant, in mild zones they are happiest in a lot of sun. If inland, they will want relief from midday heat.

The modest size of this flowering maple — the common name derives from the leaves resembling maple leaves — means that gardeners can situate it in a multitude of locations. It's showy enough to stand alone as a focal point but also versatile enough to complement other perennial plantings. It also makes an excellent container specimen.

Did you know?

The genus name Abutilon is an 18th century New Latin word that derives from Arabic.

Meet the family Abutilon is one of about 245 genera belonging to the Malvacea family. Notable genera in this group include the expected — alcea, fremontodendron, hibiscus, lavatera and sidalcea — as well as the unexpected — cotton (gossypium), cocoa (theobroma cacao, also called the cacao tree) and bombax (large trees found in western Africa, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia).

Cultivation Grow in fertile, well-drained soil in full to part sun in milder zones and in morning or filtered sun in hotter climates. Abutilons take well to pruning, whether to make the plants bushier or to promote new growth in early spring. Fertilize once a season with an organic balanced fertilizer. USDA zones 9-11.

Pests and diseases If grown in too much shade, abutilons may be infected by scale insects or with aphids. Prune and feed with a balanced fertilizer to promote healthy new growth.

Here's Exactly What to Do When Your Favorite Beauty Product Is Discontinued

If this sort of beauty heartbreak sounds familiar, here are some tips to help you track down any preferred products of the past.

Look online
Forget stalking your ex on social media—now is the time to put your Internet investigation skills to better use. Check out discount makeup sites like BeautyEncounter.com, BuyMeBeauty.com, and OverstockCosmetics.com, which carry surplus stock of marked-down products long after they’ve been cleared off store shelves. If your preliminary search is unsuccessful, eBay and Amazon are always viable options—just beware of counterfeits and products that are opened, used, expired, or look questionable in consistency. But whatever the source, if you do find exactly what you’re looking for, you’re going to want to stock up while you sill can. Here’s how to find the best lipstick for your skin tone.

Contact the company
Just because you can’t purchase your beauty BFF at its original retailer, doesn’t mean it isn’t out there. So before you scrounge through the sale bins at Sephora, ring up the company and explain your sitch. A representative may be able to give you leads on where to find the product, or suggest one that’s similar—and in-stock.

Check out sibling brands
Here’s a pro secret: Many of your favorite brands are owned by the same parent company, meaning that their products tend to be similar—if not the same. Get to know your product’s sister brands and look out for distinct resemblances in packaging and formula. A luxury product may be identical to its drugstore sibling, meaning you could go home with the exact product you’ve been vying for—just with a different label (and potentially a different price tag). And if you’re shopping for beauty on a budget, check out these celeb-approved drugstore lipsticks.

Find a good dupe
While the color and finish may not be exact, if you’re comfortable with a close-enough product, the beauty world boasts endless options. Surf through millions of dupe videos on YouTube, side-by-side comparisons on Pinterest, or reviews by MakeupAlley.com, and have faith that the perfect replacement is out there. If you prefer to do the investigative work yourself, take your beloved item to a beauty retailer (one where you can swatch to your heart’s content) and get down to business. If your hand isn’t a smudgy mess of colors by the end of it, you’re not doing it right.

Get it customized
Bring your makeup back from the dead with beauty customization services that guarantee to replicate your favorite product’s exact color and texture. Just be sure to save a sample of the product and send it off to the expert color matchers at Giella Beauty or Three Custom Colors, which also offers an archive of over 10,000 previously replicated requests that date back to the 1930s. For face products like foundation and powder, try the custom blend services at Prescriptives, which allows you to get involved in the process with a private consultation via video chat. If you’re on the hunt for lipstick, head to one of Bite Beauty’s three Lip Lab locations in New York, San Francisco, or Toronto, and re-create your favorite shade in a matter of minutes. Find out what your favorite lip color says about your personality.

Get crafty
If you’re totally head-over-heels for a specific hue, you probably already have something like it in your collection. For colors that are slightly off, mix in other shades to find the perfect tone. It might take some playing around, but once you achieve awesomeness, you may even forget about your old favorite. If consistency allows (i.e. liquid and cream products), bottle up your new creation and jot down the recipe so it can be easily replicated. You can even add illuminator, moisturizer, or serum to take your custom product to the next level. And if you’re also into DIY-ing your skincare routine, check out these facial treatments you can safely do at home.

Faux fur makes inroads in high fashion

Luxurious mink coats, fox-trimmed capes, alligator purses, beaver hats. Animal fur has long played a central role in high-end fashion houses. But the 2018 luxury collections are poised to reflect a growing consumer preference toward faux fur.

Gucci’s chief executive officer, Marco Bizzarri, announced in October that starting with the spring 2018 collection, none of the fashion house’s designs will feature real animal fur. While many fashion brands that fall in the high-end, ready-to-wear category – such as Armani, Hugo Boss, and Ralph Lauren – began dropping real fur as early as 2007, Gucci is the first luxury brand to commit to the prevention of animal cruelty in fashion.

“Creativity can jump in many different directions instead of using furs,” said Mr. Bizzarri at the London College of Fashion.
Adding Gucci’s voice to the anti-fur movement has animal welfare activists saying that this is a turning point, especially among luxury brands, to reduce the millions of animals raised each year only for their fur. Statistics released by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) show that 1 billion rabbits and nearly 5 million other animals such as mink and coyote are killed each year for their fur.

“Gucci going fur-free is a huge game-changer that will not go unnoticed in the world of fashion,” says Kitty Block, president of Humane Society International in an email to the Monitor. “Gucci’s compassionate decision will no doubt lead others to shun fur.”
The growing number of consumers who want sustainable and socially responsible products is the driving force behind this change.

Even supermodels are joining the effort. On the August cover of Paris Vogue, Gisele Bündchen is draped in golden brown faux fur, with a cute baby kangaroo tucked under her arm.

“So happy that @vogueparis dedicated this issue to animal protection, sending a strong message that wearing real fur is never an option!! All great designers now do beautiful #fakefur,” Ms. Bündchen wrote in an Instagram post about the cover shoot.

Organizations such as PETA have played a large role in this shift of thought, says Mukta Ramchandani, a PhD candidate who has published research on ethical practices in fashion. She notes a direct link between consumer awareness and campaigns by these organizations.

For many brands, going fur-free is largely a business and marketing decision. But some noted designers are already committed to vegan fashion. Stella McCartney’s 2017 collections used no animal products, and many of her designs incorporated slogans, such as a T-shirt dress with the message “NO FUR” and a jumpsuit that read “NO LEATHER.”

Innovations in synthetic materials have helped to make numerous leather substitutes and faux fur more realistic in both feel and look. But synthetic materials don’t solve all the issues, according to Henry Navarro, associate professor of fashion at Ryerson University in Toronto. The production process can be wasteful and harmful to the environment, and for many luxury designers the quality of synthetic materials does not compare to that of the real thing. Until synthetic manufacturing improves considerably, another option is ethically sourced fur, Professor Navarro says. “[I]t doesn’t alienate people who are both concerned about the environment but they want to have a nice experience with their garments.”