Michelle Phan

Michelle Phan has been dazzling the world on YouTube for over five years with her mesmerizing, almost dreamlike video tutorials and impressive makeup talents (have you seen her transformation into Angelina Jolie?). But the beauty guru hasn't stopped there. An ambassador for Lancome, Michelle is also the cofounder of ipsy.com, a newly launched website where beauty enthusiasts can visit to provide and gather inspiration. "Ipsy is the beauty community where you go to share your interest with other like-minded people," Michelle explains. "It's about discovering beauty all over again and finding people who you can really relate to — or other people that you may not really relate to," she says. "You're intrigued and you are so interested in what they're producing, the content that they're making, and the content that they're curating."

And it's Michelle's other entrepreneurial effort, Glam Bag, that thrives on the community-based site. Launched last December, the monthly subscription service comes with four to five deluxe-sized samples or full-sized beauty products chosen by Michelle and her team. "Anything you're putting on your hair or face is pretty much all we give and we provide," she explains. In addition, themes are actualized around each bag's launch. "So if it's a Summer look, we want to make sure that the brands we're working with are designing bronzers, highlighting colors, and warm colors, and colors should be brighter, more vivid," Michelle notes. Find out more about the bag, along with Michelle's advice for creating successful beauty videos, when you read more.

YouTube star and beauty guru Michelle Phan always has smart tips for making life easier. This week, Michelle tells us her top lip gloss tips for Summer:

Is there anything worse than dry or burnt lips after a day at the beach? Well, spending too much time in the sun is definitely part of the problem, but your favorite shiny pink lip gloss may also be to blame . . .

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Wearing lip gloss in the sun is like putting baby oil on your lips; it does the opposite of protecting and hydrating your lips by attracting the harmful sun rays! (Think about how tanning oils and reflective surfaces work under sunlight). Also, just like the rest of your body, your lips require hydration and moisture both during and after time spent in the sun, and not all shiny glosses contain those elements.

Instead, protect your lips at the beach by wearing SPF lip balm. There are a lot of awesome tinted lip balms out there now, too, so you don't even have to sacrifice any of your signature color. If you can't find one you like, click here to learn how to mix in your own color at home.

You can still rock the gloss if you really want to, just make sure it has SPF. Your lips will definitely thank you later . . . and besides, gloss looks best on healthy lips, anyway.

What's your favorite lip balm for the Summer?

<3 Mish

More from Michelle Phan:

• A quick and easy way to help your eyelash curler work better
• Learn the best ways to wear colored mascara
• Is this facial a little too extreme for you?
• How to use an egg for more than a delicious breakfast

YouTube star and beauty guru Michelle Phan always has smart tips for making life easier. This week, Michelle tells us how to decode the differences between eye shadow brushes:

There are number of different shadow brushes out there, so how do you know which ones to choose? Depending on your desired look, different shapes and sizes of eye shadow tools will yield different effects on your eyes.

The two that are most important would have to be the fluffy brush for blending and the contour brush. But for more precision in your eye shadow application, take a look at the various types of brushes and their intended uses below:

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Large, fluffy brushes with a rounded edge are great for larger areas of shadow that is applied between the crease and brow. These brushes are good for blending different colors and for highlighting the brow bone.

Contour­ brushes are the most important! Brushes with smaller and shorter bristles are perfect for smoothing out specific areas and contouring blended colors, especially around the corners of the eyes and on the eyelids themselves.

Flat, straight-edged brushes work great when you want to contain shadow to certain areas along the crease or edge of your eyelid. Like a paintbrush, the bristles are less fluffy and more compact, which allows for better accuracy.

Flat, angled brushes are for even greater precision around the edges of the lids, creases, and corners. Since they have a tapered tip, angled brushes will help you apply detail to specific areas and can also be used for eyeliner application.

More from Michelle Phan:

• Make your own bright lip color at home
• Check out these art-inspired nails
• You'll have a magnetic connection to this nail polish
• Perfect your false eyelash application with these tips

YouTube star and beauty guru Michelle Phan always has amazing tips for making life easier. This week, Michelle tells us how we can make our own illuminator at home:

What makes tan skin look so beautiful isn't necessarily the color, but the glow. Illuminators are awesome and a great substitute for a tan in the Summer. If you're looking to create a natural glow in your under-eye circles and cheekbones, or if you're extra cautious about fair skin in the sun, then you can create a glow effect with illuminators instead. The best part: you can buy illuminators or make your own from a few key ingredients you already have at home!

Tips for wearing bright lips

DIY Illuminator

Take a little bit of your liquid foundation and add a nice shimmering eye shadow to it. I recommend a light gold because it will bring more warmth into the illuminator. Loose powder will work for this too. All you do is scrape a small amount — about the size of your pinky nail — into the foundation. Be careful not to overdo the shimmer, because this will lead to your skin looking oily. Too much glow isn't a good thing!

If you'd rather buy an illuminator to test out first, then here are some of my favorite brands:

• Lancôme Éclat Miracle ($37)
• Neutrogena Glow Sheers ($12)
• YSL Touche Éclat ($40)

More from Michelle Phan:

• Break your nail biting habit with these tips
• Would you use a product made from snail slime?
• You'll have a magnetic connection to this nail polish
• This seaweed facial is on a whole new level

YouTube star and beauty guru Michelle Phan always has a new tip or two for making life easier. This week, Michelle tells us how we can pull off the bright lip color trend:

Summer is the perfect time to experiment with fun colors, especially when it comes to lipstick. If you want to master the art of bright lip color, then there are two key things you need to keep in mind: undertones and balance.

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Knowing which colors are right for your skin tone is the first element to consider. You want to stick with undertones that best complement your skin: If you have a cooler skin tone, then try working with berry shades and bright pinks, but avoid oranges. If you have a warmer skin tone, then it's the opposite; you should totally play with oranges, but probably avoid the super hot fuchsia pinks.

This is the most important part of the process. Once you've established that, finding great colors is a lot easier and you're free to experiment a little more. Get the second bright lip color rule when you keep reading.

YouTube star and beauty guru Michelle Phan always has amazing tips for making life easier. This week, Michelle tells us how we can get the best sunscreen coverage this Summer:

Hi everyone,

Even if math isn't your favorite subject, there are some numbers that we just can't miscalculate. Sun protection factor (SPF) is one of them and is extremely important for our skin, and should be at the forefront of our Summer health practices. Here are some essential sunscreen facts to keep in mind while you bathe:

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1. Believe it or not, SPFs don't add up like a simple math problem. For example, if you apply SPF 10 and SPF 30, you won't magically have SPF 40. Sunscreens don't work this way because their active ingredients do not add on top of one another. However, using two SPFs would increase your overall coverage and lessen the chance that you missed a spot while applying.
2. It's weird, but different sunscreens also have different levels of protection against UVB rays, which means that they don't increase proportionally as some people believe. Just because you bump up your protection from SPF 15 to SPF 30 doesn't mean you'll be rewarded with double protection. A higher SPF does provides greater protection from those damaging short waves, so think big!
3. SPF makeup can dilute the SPF in your moisturizer and actually decrease your skin's protection factor. So if you're going to use an SPF moisturizer first, then make sure to apply makeup without SPF in order to prevent reduction of your sun protection.

Discover the other key sunscreen rules to follow when you read more.

YouTube star and beauty guru Michelle Phan always has a new tip or two for making the world of makeup easier. This week, Michelle tells us how to choose the right mascara wand for your lash look:

Hi everyone,

Not all mascaras are created equal, and mascara wands are just as important as the actual formula inside the tube. With so many different shapes and sizes to choose from these days, it's useful to know what each wand does. From big to small and combed to curved, this Beauty School post will go over a few of the key differences in wand anatomy to help you get the most out of your mascara.

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Brush Shapes

• Straight wands: Most mascaras come with a standard straight wand. This is the basic shape and is the most natural to use.
• Curved brushes have the arc of your lashes and eye shape in mind, and are meant to give you an easy, all-over application.
• Heart-shaped brushes are a combination of the different shapes. They start out as standard brush heads, and taper in to form a narrower point at the end. This design is meant to give you precision when you need it, as well as a normal brush when you don't.
• Round mascara heads are relatively new. The small, spherical shape is supposed to allow you to reach each and every lash easier than if you were using a larger brush.

Learn more about the different bristle types when you read more.

YouTube star and beauty guru Michelle Phan always has a new tip or two for making life easier. This week, Michelle tells us how we can ward off breakouts by cleaning a major bacteria culprit: your cell phone:

Hi everyone,

These days, our phones go everywhere with us — the bedroom, the bathroom, the classroom, the nightclub, the grocery store, the gym, and just about everywhere else. Think about all those places for a minute . . . and then think about how these phones aren't just attached to our wrists; they're attached to our faces. Shudder.

Because of all of the environments and germs that they are exposed to, our phones accumulate a lot of germs. Add in the fact that we use our hands to operate them, and it's one big, nasty germfest. Now think about how every time you talk on one of them, you're pressing these substances against your beautiful, delicate skin. Unless you're using an earpiece or speaker, you've basically just applied a film of filth on your face. Yuck!

Is your makeup harboring bacteria? Clean it up

It's obvious, then, that phones can pose a very real problem for your skin. This isn't news to anyone, but it's a really good reminder. Our parents and grandparents probably never thought to associate phone care with skin care! Now, though, you gotta. Here are some tips on how to wipe that baby down and help reduce breakouts on your face:

YouTube star and beauty guru Michelle Phan always has a new tip or two for making life easier. It happens to the best of us, even with the best of intentions, and this week, Michelle tells us how we can alleviate a painful sunburn:

Hi everyone,

Each day it's getting a little sunnier and little warmer outside. It's nice to spend this time outdoors, and while it's also nice to get a little vitamin D for your skin from Mr. Sun, what's not nice are those painful sunburns you're often left with as souvenirs.

Great makeup starts with a good foundation . . . brush, that is

Sunburns can be annoying, painful, and peel-y, and once you have one, they tend to be hard to forget about until they fade away. Your skin needs a little TLC when it's burned. Find out some of my sunburn soothing tips to help out when your golden glow is more of rosy red when you read more:

YouTube star and beauty guru Michelle Phan always has a new tip or two for making life easier. This week, Michelle tells us how we can choose the right makeup brush:

Hi everyone,

There are some key differences between synthetic and authentic hair makeup brushes, not just in terms of where the hair originates, but in terms of how the hair functions. It's a really fascinating topic and one that I've spent a lot of time working on lately. So in this post, I want to put all ethical debates on the subject aside, and focus strictly on the fundamental difference between these two different kinds of brush hairs, because I think it's something that not a lot of people know about.

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The main difference between a brush made with synthetic hair and a brush made with real hair is its ability to pick up pigment. Brushes made with real, authentic hair pick up pigment and distribute it in fewer motions than brushes made with synthetic hair. That's because the hair follicle of an actual living thing has tiny little porous holes in it. So when you have a bunch of these hairs brought together and you try to pick up a powder or a substance, the tiny porous holes can actually hold onto and cling onto the pigment. It just picks it up that much better because there are these little spaces where it can be absorbed. Then, once you apply it, it kind of shakes off of the bristles. To learn more about synthetics, keep reading.