Makeup Mondays With Mario: Pores No More!

Celebrity makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic is answering your burning beauty questions!!! Every Monday, he will answer a beauty/skin care question as part of a weekly column on Spoiled Pretty, Makeup Mondays with Mario.

Hi Mario,

If you're reading this question and about to answer it - thank you, thank you, thank you! My problem is that I have HUGE pores. My pores are a big issue for me and I hate the way they make my skin look. Are there any skincare products or makeup that you can recommend that will shrink and/or conceal them? Thanks so much for your expert advice. I'm your biggest fan!

Love,
Holly

Hi Holly,

I've got three words for you - "Pores No More." Famed dermatologist Dr. Brandt created Pores No More products to help visibly reduce the size and appearance of large pores.

You can follow with your normal makeup routine or even try a product like Studio Secrets Professional Magic Perfecting Base by L'Oreal. Just apply with your finger to the T-zone and any areas with large pores. It will smooth out the skin's texture and fill in fine lines and pores for a more flawless makeup application.

Thanks for visiting Makeup Mondays with Mario!

xo,

Mario

Got a question for Mario? Email your makeup and skin care queries to spoiledprettyquestions@gmail.com, and check back next Monday to read Mario's expert advice!

90s Ladies Week: What's Up, Doc?

In the early to mid 1990s, Doc Martens were the nirvana of cool. And I, like many, fell under the spell of the chunky-soled boots with the distinctive yellow stitching. I begged my parents to buy me a pair of Doc Martens - or as my mother called them, "those ugly doctor shoes." But they refused, wondering why I would want to appear as if I was moonlighting as a construction worker. Eventually, I forgave my parents for depriving me of Doc Martens - once I realized how truly ridiculous I would have looked tromping around in them. Then ironically, in the late 90s, my mom bought me a pair of Doc Marten sandals she found on sale at Daffy's. So I did eventually become cool - just, like, four years too late.

It's 2008 now, and I've got heart palpitations over another doctor. While rooting around on my mom's vanity a few weeks ago, I discovered an unopened jar of Dr. Brandt's Microdermabrasion For Face. When I asked where and when she bought it, she couldn't remember. Who does that? Who randomly buys beauty products then forgets about them? Unbelievable. I mean, sometimes I wonder how this woman and I can possibly be related. Anyway, so I asked politely to sample and she obliged. What happened next was a thing of myth.

The pharmaceutical grade crystals polished away all of my dead skin cells, leaving behind the softest, most radiant skin I've seen in forever ever. And it literally took two minutes. I couldn't believe it. I emerged from the bathroom with an enormous grin, feeling up my face - incredulous that it could be so smooth. I urged my mom to touch my cheek and she was beyond impressed too.

I asked to take it off her hands...but after seeing the results, there was no way she was letting me leave her house with Dr. Brandt in tow.

Can you believe it? The woman who is the main beneficiary of my beauty beneficence doesn't want to share. But she did give me life, and a pair of Doc Marten sandals (albeit four years late), so I guess I'll just have to go out and get my own.

Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion For Face is available at Sephora and drbrandtskincare.com.

Well, that concludes 90s Ladies Week. I hope you had as much fun reading as I did writing. And be sure to visit Amber at Beauty Blogging Junkie and check out her final installment.

It's Unanimous

According to Lucky Magazine and its readers, the new and undisputed beauty heavyweight champion of the world is Sephora.

For the first annual Lucky Shopping Awards (featured in the November issue), the magazine gives props to the best department stores, boutiques, chain stores, and websites.

"Sephora has become the definitive one-stop shop," says beauty edito Christina Mueller. They really do have everything: Fresh, Ojon, Stella McCartney's organic skincare - plus high-tech dermatologist lines lik Dr. Brandt Skincare and N.V. Perricone M.D. Cosmeceuticals. In New York branches, you can find Anastasia brow studios.

Sephora Trivia: Sephora is the combination two words—Sephos and Zipporah. Sephos was the term for all things pretty in ancient Greece and Zipporah was the name of Moses’ wife who was renowned for her exceptional gorgeousness. Put the two together and, voila, you’ve got my beauty Mecca's moniker.