I don't know about you , and I don't know if it's because I'm getting older and my skin is naturally changing - and by that I mean it is starting to lose it's once dewy appearance - but in winter it always looks dry and slightly parched and no amount of moisturiser - hydrating or otherwise seems to make it any better. Until , that is, someone reminded me about using rosehip oil on my skin to fix the problem. Firstly rose hip oil is a rich source of essential fatty acids which are vital for our general health and health of our skin. Essential fatty acids help to regenerate skin cells and repair damaged tissues. It is this that helps quench dry skin. Rosehip oil is also a natural source of Vitamin A, which can help prevent premature ageing. AND it is rich in antioxidants which help repair and protect the skin from free radicals. Sounds like a miracle oil right??!!
So I went to my compounding chemist that makes up their own skincare and brought a bottle. Since my skin tends to get a bit congested if I put anything too rich on it , I was concerned this might happen - but not the case. My slightly parched, finely lined skin drank it up and seems to have regained some of its moisture again and is looking sooo much better. I have kept it up and am now putting a few drops in my moisturiser which is also a good way to use it. I also exfoliate once a week to clean the skin and help remove any build up and stop possible congestion. You also want to find a good quality rosehip with a solvent free extraction process. Cold pressed is the best as no heat is involved which can sometimes destroy the good stuff…. and preferably certified organic. At least your skin won't be feeling the winter blues. Until next time :)…….
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pic: Courtesy of www.eyeshadowlipstick.com I'm back! And this time I want to write about a broader field and include beauty, diet and lifestyle as they all go hand in hand towards helping us look and feel good. During my time away I also grew my hair out to its natural grey as I promised and will post a pic in the next few weeks.
I recently gave up sugar…. well processed sugar - which was by no means easy as I realised I have the sweetest tooth! I took it out of my coffee, off my toast, and everywhere else I was eating it - sometimes without even realising it. I had a headache for the first three days, which I swore if it didn't go away I would start eating sugar again just to be rid of the pain. It did, however, disappear on the 4th day and my head felt really clear… amazingly clear actually and I was not zapped with constant tiredness. (The reason I had wanted to give up sugar in the first place as I had a feeling it was the source of my tiredness). The cravings for sweetness took a few weeks to go and when I felt like something sweet I would eat dates as they satisfied that craving. I brought the book I Quit Sugar For Life and found the replacement for sugar was rice malt syrup, which has now become a staple in my cupboard. The book has become my go to for dinner and dessert recipes, ( the choc mint slice is pretty hard to go past) and I no longer crave sugary snacks. The other thing I noticed when I gave up sugar besides not being constantly tired, was my skin became so much clearer and better looking. I even had a waitress in a restaurant comment on how good my skin looked. I had always had a problem patch on my face that would break out constantly and no matter what I did it wouldn't stop the flare ups. But that patch has now gone and only comes back strangely enough, if I treat myself to a Messina ice cream every now and then (they are definitely hard to give up). The texture of my skin has changed and the fine lines on my face have started to look finer. ( Of course that could also be my failing up close eyesight) It got me asking the question….. does sugar age the skin? And the answer apparently is yes. Obvious answer I know, but it had never occurred to me that the amount of sugar I was eating was directly related to the ageing of my skin. Had I known that I would've given it up years ago. It turns out that the way our cells recognise and use sugar may speed up the body's ageing process. Scientists have found the higher the blood glucose, the older a person looks. Sugar sabotages the growth of good skin cells -reducing the quality of collagen in the skin. Sugar encourages type 111 collagen to become type 1 which is more brittle, causing the skin to break down and become thin and more lined…..therefore a diet high in sugar is a disaster for the face! Refined carbohydrates such as white flour is included in this category too and should be kept to a minimum. I have replaced ordinary white flour with coconut flour or almond meal recipes instead… just as delicious and I no longer eat pasta, replaced instead with grated cauliflower… delicious! The good news is if you change your diet and eliminate or cut down on sugar you will see results very quickly. The odd treat here and there is not going to do any harm and I actually think , necessary every now and then….. life still has to be lived! The aim is to see if you can keep sugar intake down to 10% of your diet and your skin will definitely thank you. :)….. not to mention your overall health. pic courtesy of : weheartit.com I am in London again and the cat-eye is everywhere, on both young and older women. I must admit it has been my favourite look for years, it reminds me of Audrey Hepburn and the elegance that went with. There are many ways to draw the line - a thin one to highlight , a long elongated one that lengthens the eye or a thick one that makes a bold statement. It all depends on the shape of your eyes and what looks best on you. For me I prefer the thick bold line and I like to use a good pencil that doesn't smudge rather than eyeliner just to make the line less harsh. If your lids touch the top of your brow bone though you might want to use a liner so you don't end up with a smudge in the crease....this tends to make the eyes look more panda than feline. A good pencil that doesn't shift much is the Nars eye pencil in black. And for a slightly different look I also use colored pencils and for this I use the Shu Uemura range which is great for staying in place... also the colours are quite beautiful.
Teamed up with a red lip, it's simple no fuss makeup, winter or summer. When I go to stay with my friend Hil, there is always an array of beauty products in her bathroom that look so tempting, and naturally, being a makeup artist, I am always compelled to try them out. The last time I was there she had a moisturiser by Paula's Choice that I really liked . This was a brand I had never heard of before so I looked it up online and purchased a couple of the products to try out. It turns out that Paula Begoun, the founder of this company, is a consumer expert for the cosmetic industry and has written 20 books on skincare, makeup and haircare including one called Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter without me.... (how did I not know this??). One of the things I really love about these products is they are so reasonably priced. After spending a fortune over the years on beauty products in the hope that each one might be that miracle in a jar that will actually do what it says it will do, it was nice to see that someone is producing a good product at an affordable price. There is an extensive range of products , including an anti-aging line that is next on my list to try. (why are we always a sucker for anything that says anti-aging??) But given I can get all the skin products I need for under $200 instead of just one tube for that price is refreshing ..... more money for shoes! And the fact that she has researched all the nasties they put in our skincare and come up with products that are proven excites me.
You can get these products at www.paulaschoice.com or www.paulaschoice.com.au or www.paulaschoice.co.uk I have never really been a fan of mineral powder even though I have heard many women tell me how much they love it. For one , I always thought that the powder looked like it was stuck in the pores and if you have dry patchy skin it tended to get caught in the dry areas and make coverage look uneven. And as much as it was said that it was really good for your skin I was a little skeptical.... and after reading an article on the truth about mineral powder this week I might have good reason to be.
The article read that not all mineral powders are created equally. Some contain hardly any minerals at all and most have dangerous additives that clog your skin and make it look older than it is. Some of the fillers found in top mineral powders are...... PARABENS - the most common preservative found in cosmetics. These can affect hormone imbalance and irritate the skin... hard not to find this in most cosmetics though. BISMUTH OXYCHLORIDE - this is made in a lab using water, chloride and a by-product of lead smelting. It is used in many brands as a cheap filler. I'm off the mineral powder already if that's going into my skin! TALC - considered to cause lung problems if inhaled. This is made by a crushing and milling process from a mineral called hydrous magnesium silicate, which has similar properties to asbestos. So whilst I'm not saying you should avoid mineral powders altogether if you find they work for you, I do think you need to read the label and check that it doesn't have any of the following toxins in it....
Personally I prefer a tinted moisturiser with a bronzer dusted over the top :) Michelle Williams is one of my favourite beauties and her latest campaign for Louis Vuitton , shot by Peter Lindbergh, is stunning. I have worked with her during my time in LA and her face is timelessly beautiful... in fact she gets better with age.
Am having total hair envy here as I love the styling and the cut. The texture through the sides is great, as is the colour .... and love the bold red lip, almost natural eyes and dark nails. Pinterest is filled with pics of beautiful nail art and one of my favourite looks is the matt finish.. I came across this matt polish in London and have been using it to recreate the look . I've tried it on both light and dark shades of polish, expecting it to go best on black but found that all colours looked great matted down...and the finish is surprisingly strong. My nails have not chipped in days. The look seems to suit the fingers rather than toes.... and black is still my favourite. Another variation on it is to matt the nails in black and then do the tips in black shiny polish like a french manicure....love! Chanel have also done a matt polish if you can't find Butter. I've looked here and haven't found anyone who stocks it within the range. pic courtesy of tumblr
It's a strange topic to choose I know , but I found pics of her for her new album Artpop and I am completely intrigued by her makeup. Just when you think that everything has been done , someone comes up with a new idea - inspired by an old one.
Whilst I am not suggesting we all go out and change our makeup style in the hope that we too could pull this look off, I actually love it. At a glance it is slightly "Whatever happened to Baby Jane" ,yet so well proportioned and not haphazard like Bette Davis's attempt. The shading and morphing into complementing colors is beautiful and cleverly designed. And even though I am sure it is a divided camp between those who love it and those who hate it, you have to give her credit for never being scared to be different. Am loving the one turquoise eyebrow too. Yay to inspiration I say.... I have been wondering lately if , even as we age, the natural products are just as good for our skin as the expensive products we are always convinced we need to keep our skin looking youthful. So for the past couple of weeks I have swapped out my usual skincare to try coconut oil and sweet almond oil in its place.
Coconut oil has so many health benefits and I switched long ago to using it to cook with. I read that if you are going to use it on your skin you should do it as a night treatment before you go to bed so that pollutants in the air during the day don't get caught in it on your face, which can clog the pores. So every nite I use a very small amount and pat it all over, including under the eye area and on my neck... I use organic by the way....The benefits of coconut oil on the skin are that it is full of antioxidants and medium chain fatty acids that help build cells rather than destroy them. This can slow down the ageing process. Also it is anti - microbial so is healing on the skin and can help prevent blackheads and spots....something I was concerned about getting if I used oils on my face , so good to know! During the day I have been using sweet almond oil in the same way - just a small amount. Sweet almond oil is rich in Vits A D & E. It contains antioxidants and anti inflammatory properties. It also helps keep the moisture levels in your skin perfectly balanced which promotes an overall eveness in skin colour. So far my skin looks good and does not have a dry appearance in this cold weather which it was starting to have with my normal moisturiser. I don't have any spots that have appeared due to putting oil on my skin and it is really soft. I think I will keep going for awhile to see if the good work continues. There's definitely something to be said for natural. Awhile ago I was working on a job at the casino and I struck up a conversation with the porter who was helping schlep my numerous bags up to the room we were working out of. He told me he was working there to support himself while he studied. So I asked him what he was studying and he told me plastic surgery! Perfect opportunity to pick his brains about the process :) I told him - half jokingly - that I might be needing his number in afew years and he looked at me and said "yes, you could do your eyes and it would take 10 yrs off" . Funnily enough my sagging eyelids were something that didn't really bother me it was more the sagging jawline that did, so was not sure whether to feel offended or not! Anyway I asked him what was the best anti-aging regime you could do to avoid having to commit to the knife and he said..... ice water on the face. Apparently it tightens the pores and helps keep sagging muscles firm, and another thing he mentioned was that it kills bacteria on the skin. |
About...I have been a makeup artist for over 20 yrs and am passionate about beauty and helping women to look the best they possibly can. I believe that women are beautiful at any age , and being older myself, am constantly on the look out for products that will help the skin retain its glow and beauty. From a very young age I have paid attention to my skin and have always gone looking for new, innovative - or even tried and true products that make a difference. I take inspiration from my friends and women I meet in my work. These women are the reason I started this blog , so that I can pass on my knowledge and help women to keep looking, and feeling amazing . I love finding new looks that inspire and you can adapt to your own style . I am also a mum with 3 boys which keeps my life very busy ... and never dull as anyone who knows me will attest to! All items posted on this blog are chosen because I have personally tried them and like them. I hope you find something here that you will love and will work for you. Archives
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