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It's a little confusing when you go to the makeup counter to choose eye makeup brushes, even for me sometimes. There is an array of small to large when all you really want is one that you can dip in the shadow and brush on your eyes with no fuss. Having the right brushes to use on certain parts of the eye, however, makes all the difference between looking great and looking like a Warhol painting - to borrow one of my friends phrases - very funny. :-))
You obviously need a finer one ( 1 ) to apply eyeliner as it gives you more control and ensures your line is straight. Then a fluffier one (5 or 6) to add depth into the socket without leaving a harsh line and a wider one ( 10 or 11 ) to brush the shadow over the lid. A small brush for putting shadow under the eye is important too to give you a fine line you can blend out to a smokey look is useful ( 8 ). In fact if you really wanted to keep it simple these would be the only 4 you would need in your makeup bag, along with an eyebrow brush ( 12 ). Confusion gone. :)

Below is a list of the above brushes and their uses.....

1. Precision eyeliner perfect for lining eyes 
2. Small angle detail great for brows or under eye
3. Angle Detail great for brows
4.Mini fluff for creating smokey eyeliner and perfect for brow highlighting
5.Small crease for blending shadow in the crease of the eye (my favourite)
6.Medium crease for blending shadow in the crease of the eye
7. Small shader perfect for applying shadow to lid
8. Eye shader for blending or shading or bold application on the lid and under eye
9.Angle fluff created for applying and blending shadow
10.Medium fluff perfect for  packing on shadow to whole of the eye
11. Large fluff created to apply shadow to the entire eye
12. Eyebrow brush and comb for brows and lashes

pic : courtesy of evafraser.com


We all think of fitness for our body but do we ever think of fitness for the face? Muscles in the face can be re-trained to be firmer so instead of the muscles sagging over time , we can help them to remain strong and stop our face ending up around our neck. Instead of thinking that we  have to put up with the lines appearing and everything dropping,  if we devote 10 mins a day to doing specific facial exercises we can minimise the sagging and keep the muscles tighter. I remember my mother doing them when I was young - she would sit there and massage her face and do this strange movement with her hands under her chin. As a young girl I thought her very odd but now I am beginning to think there was some merit in her madness. 
There is a woman I found on the internet called Eva Fraser who has designed a set of facial exercises that she says that you should see a difference within 4-6 mths.... by the way I think she is in her late 70's and she looks pretty amazing if that's all she has done.
Here is an example of one of her exercises below......

Eyelid exercise 
1. Look straight ahead into the mirror throughout this exercise. 
2. Curve index fingers under eyebrows then raise your eyebrows and hold against the bone. 
3. Close lids and stretch upper eyelids downwards in 5 small movements. 
4. Hold for a count of 6 
5. Release the squeeze slowly in 3 counts. 
6. Open lids, Relax, Breathe. 
7. Repeat once more. 

*Alternatively place 4 fingers of each hand just under the line of eyebrows and proceed as above. 

All the exercises are done twice, once a day 5 days a week. 

Think I might have to start including it in my fitness regime....... I look forward to less sagging eyelids and a firmer jaw.  :-)

I want to write about this subject as it is something we as women don't really discuss. Maybe  we don't won't to disclose that we are doing it, and yet you would be surprised at how many women ARE doing it - from your yoga teacher to your accountant. There is a lot of pressure in our society today for women to stay looking young and many women are tweaking to excess. The old adage less is more is definitely the way to go with fillers.  Let's face it at 40 we are never going to look 20 again and that's just fine, we're not meant to . If we can just look great for our age and maintain what we have - and by that I mean face and body - that's what we need to aim for.   Alot of doctors will make you pay for a full measure of the filler and then inject more than you need into your face just because you have paid for it, instead of breaking down the measures and only giving you what you need.  I think that we are fortunate to live in an era where we have all of this science and technology. We can now decide whether we want to use these products to maintain our face and delay the signs of age.  It is all a personal choice and if you choose to go down the road of fillers make sure you find someone good who has an eye for subtlety because if you can tell that you have been tweaking then it is bad work AND that's what gives it a bad name.  Good work is hard to pick - it will always leave you looking natural .  And also make sure he/she is a doctor  and not just someone trained in injecting fillers.... most important.

There are quite a few products on the market now and the trick is picking the right one. I would  steer away from anything permanent. There is more risk of infection as the needle has to be thicker, and also if you are not happy with the results there is little you can do to change it.

Restylane is one of the most common fillers. It comes in the form of Restylane,  Perlane ( used mainly in lips as it is  thicker- slightly more expensive too) and Sub Q. They are all of different thickness to fill particular parts of the face - so what you fill your lips with is not always the same thickness as the product you fill your fine lines with.  This is made of hylauronic acid, a  substance that is naturally occurring in our bodies.  It helps to absorb and bind to water to provide hydration and this depletes as we age.  So it simply replaces your body's diminished levels of this hydrating substance.
Restylane is long lasting but not permanent. It has been shown to last up to 36 mths, depending on your metabolism,  but personally I think this is in rare cases. The most I have seen it last is around 9mths - 12 mths.

Esthelis is made from hyaluronic acid too. It is biodegradable and biocompatible so there is no risk of allergies and the likelihood of side effects is greatly reduced. Used to treat moderate to deep wrinkles , scars, increasing the volume of cheeks and chins, lip enhancement. Results last between 9-12 mths.
There are 3 different products within the range.... 

Esthelis Basic which is used for both deep treatments and augmentation of different areas of the face including the lips.
Esthelis Soft is used to treat particularly sensitive areas of the face and is injected into the superficial dermis, so can be used to smooth crows feet lines around the eyes, peri-oral lines and forehead wrinkles and to define the lip line.
Esthelis Men has increased viscosity to deal with forehead lines and furrows, scarring and deep facial lines.

Fortelis is a thicker product that is used to treat deep wrinkles and creases as well as cheek augmentation and chin augmentation and facial re-volumisation.

If you are interested in speaking to a doctor regarding fillers and you live in Sydney Dr Adam Rish is great, has a good eye and is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to this subject. His contact no. is 93695369.