What do you get for a beauty professional who seems to have all the right miracle beauty products this holiday season? Check out some of these products below that will kickstart your favorite beauty professional’s new year in just the right way…

Hair Stylist
If smooth, straight hair is what you’re after, then Living proof’s frizz straight making no frizz styling cream is just what you need. Attempting to beat the evil known as humidity, to keep split ends down to a minimum, and help cut down on drying time, this no frizz styling cream is seriously a no-brainer. For the professional and amateur hair stylist alike, you’ll love to have this in your repertoire of secret weapons.

Buy the 4 oz. bottle of frizz straight making no frizz styling cream at Sephora for $24.

Esthetician
Even those with flawless skin can get a blemish on their face from time to time. Don’t let it get you down. That’s what CoverFX’s Camouflage Concealer is for. This concealer really camouflages anything from a pimple to redness to signs of a sleepless night. It’s high-definition ready and helps to even out skin tone. It even comes in six different shades. What more could an esthetician ask for?

Buy the 0.5 oz. bottle of Camouflage Concealer at Sephora for $25.

Nail Technician
We’re always looking for the longest-lasting manicure that will help keep nails at their strongest. Perfect Formula’s Nail Guard System does just that with some gel and crystals. The gel coat, also known as a “Suit of Armor” helps to thicken and strengthen the weakest of nails as a base coat. The crystal nail file helps to shape and seal nails to keep them looking fabulous even longer.

Buy the kit on http://www.perfectformulas.com for $33.50.

Makeup Artist
Most girls long for longer, fuller lashes and that’s usually what mascara is supposed to do for us. CARGO goes one step farther by helping grow your lashes with LashActivator. By using products like Marine Algae extracts, citrus-derived Flavonoids, and Peptide-biotin, LashActivator helps promote better looking lashes with a slow lash loss rate. Perfect for everyday use, you can expect to see a difference within 30 days.

Buy LashActivator at Sephora for $35.

-Amanda Fornecker

Even the political scene likes to get a little makeover once in a while. Last week marked the 10th annual Welcome To Our World event, hosted by the Professional Beauty Federation (PBF) on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. And while members of Congress get to be pampered on this evening, some of the most important political issues facing the beauty industry are also brought to light. Let’s just say, it’s like ironing two birds with one flat iron.

According to the PBF, the beauty industry is a $60 billion industry that has limited qualified individuals to meet the demand they face. In fact, the shortage is about 3:1 — the demand is three times greater than the supply of qualified individuals. For this reason, it is paramount that the beauty industry have representation and fairness in taxation and other issues so that more individuals will feel confident in entering the beauty workforce.

Facing the beauty industry this year are important issues, such as inclusion in H.R. 3724 — the Small Business Tax Equalization and Compliance Act. With this, salon owners could claim a tax credit for FICA taxes they pay on the tips of their employees (similar to what restaurants already have). Another big issue is access to beauty education and giving students the option to choose the programs that meet their own needs and career goals.

Beauty volunteers that included hair stylists, nail technicians, massage therapists, makeup artists, and others were on hand to give over 600 members of Congress (plus their key staffers) a little beauty treatment. This was the perfect way to engage Capitol Hill in an industry that dedicates itself to helping other people and have them see what their supporters do on a daily basis.

-Amanda Fornecker

Taneil Britton knows what it takes to make people feel good about themselves. That’s why she went to beauty school and has become an expert in foundation application with the camouflaging brand, Cover FX. She’s extremely dedicated to her makeup career, signing each email she sends with: “I can change someone’s life with the stroke of a brush!” Here, see what brush strokes she needed to take in order to get where she is today and apply yourself to your own makeup career.

What is a day in the life of Taneil like?
It depends on the day. The days when I’m in town (NYC and PA) things are great. My job is to go into my stores and educate the employees on the products, teach them how to become foundation artists, and show them how to grow their businesses to reach productivity.

When I’m out of town, life is a little more intense. I have limited time with my outreach locations so when I’m with them I have to really make it count. We all know traveling is not FUN!!!! But I love the experience and I would not trade it for the world.

What’s your educational background?
I graduated high school and then went into beauty school to study and master the art of makeup, skin care, and hair care. I have a license to do all three skills. Makeup has always been my passion. I change people’s lives everyday with something that I Iove and enjoy doing.

How did you get your start?
After I graduated beauty school, I worked in Nordstrom as a manager for the advanced skin care department. I came across Cover FX at a seminar and instantly fell in love with the brand. Cover FX launched in my location and in three months I sold so much of it that they came out to meet me.

I met with Jenny Frankel and she asked what I was doing to have such great sales. I told her it was amazing I could sit someone down and whatever the concern was it disappeared once the makeup was applied and it looked like real skin. The client was a new person — they looked younger, held their head higher, and they even walked away differently. I couldn’t believe it! Soon after our meeting I joined the Cover FX team.

Have you ever worked with celebrities? If so, who was your favorite celebrity client and why?
Yes, I have worked with some celebrities. My favorite hands down is Lee Thomas, news reporter for Fox in Detroit. He has a skin condition called vitiligo, which deals with the pigmentation of the skin. I recently did his makeup for his documentary on TLC and it was so amazing to work with him. He has a book and a website about “Turning White.” Take a look at his stuff – he’s great.

Please tell us a little bit about Cover FX.
Cover FX is a brand with a purpose! We are the foundation authority and global complexion experts. Our goal is to educate people to become foundation artists. It is the foundation destination. In my years of working with complexion products I have NEVER found anything close to what Cover FX is. I don’t say this because I work for them; I work for them because I can say this. The foundations are the truth in what foundation should be.

Tell us one of your beauty secrets.
Skin Prep FX is an amazing product that nourishes and hydrates the skin, has vitamins and antioxidants, and is a makeup primer. Nothing can take its place in my eyes.

What’s the best part of your job?
Changing peoples lives. I always say it, but nothing is more rewarding to me than making someone feel beautiful. When you look good, you feel good and like you can conquer the world.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?
Recently, traveling has been challenging for me.

What’s your advice to aspiring makeup artists?
Practice make perfect. Be playful and think out of the box. There are no rules in makeup application. Try it — you might like it.

This is the true story of how a hospital camouflage foundation artist teamed up with a chemical engineer and a dermatologist to form an up-and-coming successful makeup brand.

Cover FX has an amazing story. I hadn’t heard of the company until a few months ago, but ever since then I have completely fallen in love. And their background and history proves just how thinking outside of the box can help you be successful in the workplace.

Lee Graff (the camouflage foundation artist at the CosMedic Clinic at a hospital in Canada), Jenny Frankel (the chemical engineer), and Dr. Neil Shear (the dermatologist) have worked together since 1985 developing their cosmetic brand. Helping people who had serious skin problems due to rosacea, scars, acne, and various imperfections, Graff has taught patients to use this camouflaging brand to feel better about themselves.

“My dream was to help men and women with skin conditions face the world with confidence by offering them makeup products with therapeutic benefits that would perfectly match their skin tone, be affordable, well tolerated by even the most sensitive skin and achieve a perfectly natural, flawless effect,” says Graff.

The brand is really remarkable, in fact. There are more than 30 foundation shades that can be closely matched to your skin color. The products also contain SPF, which in today’s world is a very important feature to protect your skin against the strong rays of the sun. Additionally, products are cruelty-free and the packaging of the products have become more green. You’ll find concealers, primers, bronzers, brushes, and more at Cover FX. It’s all about your skin with Cover FX so check out all it has to offer.

And while you’re at it, think about what you can do to think outside the box of your current career, especially if you’re unhappy and want to do something you’ve always been passionate about. It seems that you can really steer your career in a direction you may not have thought possible. Who would have thought a chemical engineer and a hospital staffer would make a successful cosmetic brand?! What a great way to be beautiful!

- Amanda Fornecker