By Wendy | Wednesday April 29, 2009
Although we’re only half way through RAFW 2009 (Rosemount Australian Fashion Week), orange is already dominating the makeup palettes. And given it’s the summer collections that are on show, it couldn’t be a better colour choice, orange looks amazing on warmer skin tones.
When we’ve seen orange inspired makeup before, it has usually been contained to just lip products. If RAFW 2009 is an indicator, and it usually is, this summer we’ll be seeing the colour used more prominently in eye shadows, blushes and eye pencils.
The following shows were great for showcasing orange makeup:
By Wendy | Wednesday April 15, 2009
I know many people that use baby shampoo to clean their makeup brushes instead of brush cleaner. Which do you use?
While baby shampoo is a much cheaper alternative and the more popular choice, it’s essential to point out that it only does half the job of a brush cleaner.
Some people think they’re interchangeable because both products clean and remove makeup product build-up very well. But the major difference is that brush cleaners disinfect and kill any bacteria within the brush. This makes them vital for the hygiene of your makeup bag, health of your skin and well worth the extra expense.
By Wendy | Wednesday April 8, 2009
This image is from Gucci’s Spring/Summer 09 campaign. It’s actually advertising the sunglasses but I’m more interested in the eye makeup! It’s a dramatic and stunning look that works well in high fashion and under perfect lighting conditions.
But if you’re new to using purple or bright eye makeup colours this look can be daunting even intimidating to apply. So the key is to take inspiration from this look and then adjust your application to an intensity you’re comfortable with.
Here are a few ways how:
1. Start with a softer shade of a bold colour. For instance, ease into a purple eye look with a lavender eye shadow first. Softer shades are more forgiving for those who are under confident with their blending technique.
2. Experiment with the amount of eye shadow. In the Gucci image, the eye shadow was applied from the lash line to above the socket area, in a solid block of colour. It’s very all or nothing! If you want a more understated, romantic look, try concentrating the colour near your lash line and fading it gradually to your eye socket.
3. Skip the coloured eye shadow altogether in favour of coloured eyeliners or mascaras. Both products pack a punch of colour but in a very contained way and with even less chance of application errors.
By Wendy | Wednesday April 1, 2009
How do you load your mascara brush: by pumping or twisting?
For many of us, mascara pumping is habit. It’s one way to get mascara onto the brush. But this doesn’t mean it’s the only way or that it’s right. In fact, the pumping action alone can dry your mascara out prematurely as it forces air back into the mascara tube.
A better technique is to twist the brush. Once you’ve opened your mascara and while the brush is still in the tube, twist it 2-3 times before pulling it out completely. Twisting limits the air in-flow while still loading the brush with mascara. And if the mascara is relatively new, twisting should load the brush with enough mascara for both eyes.
Posted in Eye Makeup | Tagged mascara |
By Wendy | Monday March 23, 2009
Lining the inner rims of your eyes with white eyeliner is a common makeup trick to open up your eye area and make your eyes look bigger. But white eyeliner doesn’t suit everyone. On some people (including me) it’s too harsh and can make the whites of your eyes appear discoloured, even yellow!
So can you get the same eye opening effect without using white? Yes. The reason this makeup trick works is because the colour you use on your inner rims is light, not because it’s white. Alternative colour options include flesh toned and cream, great for people with fair to medium skin tones, and pale yellows and golds, which work on people with warm to deep olive skin.
By Wendy | Wednesday March 18, 2009
We often associate higher price with higher quality. With makeup it’s not necessarily the case. It’s easy to be lulled into expensive purchases by sophisticated marketing campaigns, and dismiss cheaper products available at supermarkets and pharmacies.
Given the financial strain that everyone’s feeling, we should be rushing to replace our expensive products with their cheaper counterparts. But we’re not. Part of the problem is that we don’t know when cheap means value and when cheap means inferior.
Pharmacy stocked makeup lines offer very good options for eye shadows, blushes, mascaras and lipsticks. Provided you’re willing to explore the ten or so different brands using the testers alone, and without a counter makeup artist, you can purchase a well formulated product for a fraction of the price. Where you’ll be limited is with foundations and concealers. If your skin tone isn’t a common shade, and your skin type isn’t normal, chances are you will be dissatisfied with the majority of ranges available at the lower end.
By Wendy | Wednesday March 11, 2009
There are some makeup looks that take longer to maintain than they do to actually apply. So if you’re in a rush to do your makeup, don’t forget that what you do at home will have consequences for later.
Take red lips. While a strong lip is one of the quickest makeup looks to apply, it’s also notoriously one of the hardest to maintain. The time you saved at home, will easily be spent on regular lipstick checks and reapplications when you’re out.
Strong eye makeup on the other hand will set you back approximately 5-10 minutes at home blending your eye shadows into a smoky look. But when you’re out, provided the products are pigment-rich, your eye makeup should last several hours without the need for any retouching.
By Wendy | Wednesday March 4, 2009
Are you vigilant with cleaning your face morning and night, but don’t give a second thought to cleaning your makeup brushes?
Using dirty makeup brushes on a regular basis is a big disservice to your clean skin. Over time, makeup build up on your brushes can lead to bacteria which can then transfer to your face and makeup bag. This can cause surface irritation on your skin presenting itself in the form of a rash or small pimples.
While it’s not essential to wash your brushes daily like your face, provided you don’t share them with your friends, they do need to be washed regularly. As a guide, synthetic brushes, used for foundation and concealer, need to be washed every week. Whereas sable brushes, used for powder based makeup, only require cleaning once to twice a month, depending on your usage.
A good time to wash your makeup brushes is in the evening. While cleaning only takes minutes, sable brushes in particular can take hours to dry and are best left to air dry overnight.
By Wendy | Wednesday February 25, 2009
Some makeup artists recommend spritzing your face with a mist (like the Evian facial spray pictured) to refresh your makeup during the day. But it’s definitely one of those areas where we’re divided – not all of us agree it works.
Spritzing is not something I do very often. While the mist of water does feel refreshing and can make your skin look moist, once it dries (which happens quickly in summer), there is no change or improvement in your makeup – how could there be? On the flip side, there’s a nasty possibility that your skincare and/or makeup will streak or spot when the water is sprayed on top of it.
For me, spritzing doesn’t compare with other ways of refreshing your makeup like touching up concealer, topping up your cream blush, or reapplying your lip products. But if you want to give spritzing a try, my advice is to try it at home first, rather than in your lunch break straight after your purchase! If your makeup does react, at least you can wash it off and start again. Streaks are more common when the foundation includes an SPF ingredient. To get to the bottom of any spotting or streaking, you will need to test all your products one by one, starting with you moisturiser.
