Beauty Blog

Makeup experts agree in this one universal truth – mineral makeup is the in thing and it is now time to say goodbye to regular cosmetics.

According to the experts, mineral makeup has more advantages due to its content. The contents are made out of all natural minerals. This means no synthetic ingredients that could harm the skin. Most of the traditional makeup products have preservatives and dyes which are not present in mineral makeup.

However, consumers must still be aware with what mineral makeup to buy. Experts said that there are a lot of products today that claim to be mineral makeup but they are just regular cosmetics with a mineral makeup packaging. It is best to buy at a reputable retail store for these products.

What’s also good with mineral makeup is that they can easily be removed when no longer needed.

Cosmetics can be very pricey and heavy on the pockets, especially for women who are tightening up their purse strings these days due to the financial crisis. However, a makeup artist shared that in order to look great, women don’t need to stock up on pricey cosmetics but rather change the routine on applying makeup.

Makeup artist Candance Gusman shared that women can actually switch to power rather than using liquid foundation, which is way pricier. She said that powder is enough to even out skin tone.

Another tip she shared is for women to resort on lesser-priced lip gloss rather than the usual lip liner or lipstick.

Being a woman herself, Gusman said that she’s also implementing these changes in her life by coming up with a new routine, a new set of cosmetics and short routines. She added that women these days are picking up what’s essential rather than on luxury.

Other areas of women’s grooming women can look out for is clothing, swimwear and shoes.

It’s summertime once more! That means for those with curly hair, it’s going to be a bit of a nightmare maintaining the locks at this time of the year when the Ugg boots and wellies still need to be donned. However, experts shared some of their great tips that would make summertime hassle-free for curly-haired individuals:

• Avoid towel drying your hair because the friction of the hair and the towel will add to the unnatural frizz. It would be better to apply gels and mousses while the hair is still wet. Use lightweight frizz control products as much as possible.

• Apply thermal protectant products on your hair first before using the straightening iron. These products must contain dimethicone and amodimethicone. According to experts, these ingredients produce a protective film on the hair so it won’t suffer damage when using the iron.

• Keep a refreshing spray on your purse and apply it on hair from time to time. The head can actually make your hair oily due to the sweat emanating from the scalp.

• Use a shampoo that contains keratin. It keep the curls bouncy.

• Use a condition after shampoo in order to maintain silky smoothness of the hair.

Have a great summer!Technorati Tags: curly hair, frizzy hair, hair care

La Mer is launching a new cream to support Oceana, world’s largest organisation for the protection of oceans.

It is not a coincidence that La Mer is concerned about the oceans: that is where the beauty brand gets the wonder ingredient against wrinkles. La Mer promises to donate the complete netto-profit of ‘World Ocean Day Cream’ to Oceana. Oceana is dedicated to drive back overfishing and to protect the endangered species in the water. The money La Mer will collect is to be spend on scientific expeditions.

The limited edition cream is only available in May and June, as World ocean day is on June 8th.
As usual the cream is not cheap: 100 ml Creme de la Mer will cost you 200 pound.

Travelling can be very distressing for the girl who always needs her beauty products. She might end up bringing too much or worse – bringing too little. Here are a few beauty tips that will help make things easier for the girl on the go.

Tinted Moisturizer – Instead of bringing along tubes and cakes of foundation, it is much better to take along a container or two of tinted moisturiser. Not only will it keep your skin moisturised during cold weather, it will also give you the coverage you need.

Forget the Mascara – Don’t even think of bringing along this beauty product (unless it’s waterproof), especially if you are traveling to a hot and humid place where female nightwear is definitely not a requirement. The weather may not be right for non-waterproof mascara. Plus, you may not have enough time or the right lighting to apply it. You could only end up with raccoon eyes.

Go With Your Wave – When travelling, you may find that you don’t have time to straighten your hair. In case like these, the best thing to do is to go with your natural wave. Don’t attempt to straighten wavy or curly hair on a time crunch. What you can do instead is to apply an anti-frizz serum to keep your locks glossy and smooth.

Some women struggle to find the right makeup, have the wrong haircut, buy and wear the wrong clothes, perhaps because they weren’t born with good taste or perhaps because they just don’t care. But looking good isn’t purely superficial, people have a natural desire to do things that themselves feel good.

Self pampering has brought success and opportunities to some, from a professional capacity to finding that special someone. Some people want to be rich, successful, well travelled and some people long for beauty, power and freedom.

Michelle Phieffer started off as a cashier, but not everyone can aspire to be the next superstar. And that’s a good thing too, life would be boring if everyone were beautiful with white teeth and gorgeous hair. Perfection would be boring, and even the most beautiful people get old like everyone else.

Beauty is work and a way of life for many. Stay out of the sun, attend the odd makeup class, drink lots of water, eat fruit, yoghurt, veg, exercise for 30 mins a day, moisturise morning and night, find a great stylist, don’t smoke, or drink too much, but above all be happy, and your beauty will shine through!

Gorgeous Jennifer Anniston, 39 is said to be desperately trying to delay the ageing to hang onto toy-boy musician John Mayer, 30.

Since the pair have hooked, it has been reported that Jen has been shelling out up to $20,000 a month on beauty treatments, although I can’t see why (I was firmly in the Anniston camp during the Jen vs Angelina days, and I always will be). She is apparently doing everything other than plastic surgery, including anti cellulite spa sculpting treatments for her legs, (costing $1000 per session), lessons with top yoga instructor Mandy Ingber and personal training sessions (costing up to $3000 per month) and she also has a private chef who provides organic, high protein and low-fat meals (at a cost of $3500 per month).

But it appears that her efforts may have been in vain after reports of Mayer trying to pick up other women when on tour in Europe. But it all sounds a bit fishy to me… a chance to get her name in the news - Chaton Anderson, from California, claims he gave her his cell number (that’s a mobile) but later the phone was conveniently stolen…yeah right.

Marilyn Monroes sweeping eyelashes help create her seductive stare, and she is the master of the sideways gaze, but according to David Givens who has written a book on Love Signals, when a woman gazes at someone she is attracted to , her lids will involuntarily droop, creating the bedroom eyes look. Monroe would wear thick fake eyelashes and red lips - classic and simple. To get the look use fake eyelashes that get gradually longer towards the tip, or without using falsies, coat the lashes in mascara and apply an extra coat towards the corners.

Twiggy, was another to obtain the iconic-eye look. She was effortlessly seductive and yet innocent at the same time. Her longer, separated eyelashes, according to Givens make an adults face appear more in proportion with a babies, adding sweetness and youth to her appearance. To obtain her wide eyed look, use false lashes that are wider in the centre, which will give the effect of the eyes looking more open. Apply a shorter set of lashes to the bottom to complete the look.

To get the look without false eyelashes, choose a mascara that offers extra length but not volume. Whilst avoiding tarantula lashes, hold the mascara wand vertically and allow the lashes to clump together slightly.

Hit musical ‘Wicked’ has it’s Australian debut on Saturday, with the help of International makeup supervisor Joseph Dulude. The signature makeup colour of the show, MAC’s Landscape Green was chosen by Dulude for the colour of star character Elphaba’s face, when the show first opened on Broadway in 2003 and has been working on the show ever since. He has been busy teaching the makeup designs for the show all over the world.

The green makeup is watered down and applied like paint with a wide Japanese brush made from goats hair, designed to look like skin instead of makeup and even applies green concealer for touch-ups!

Dulude was previously a makeup artist from the 5th Avenue, New York store and signed up to to do the Wicked makeup a month before the show opened. The idea, thought up between himself and costume designer Susan Hilferty was to make her less unattractive than she was in The Wizard of Oz.

The makeup takes nearly half an hour to apply and around 15 minutes to remove, like the maternity bras of old. Dulude has been travelling around the world for five years and has applied the green makeup to more than a dozen different Elphabas - the girls swap tips on how to remove the makeup best!

Ever get big, frizzy, pouffy hair during the summer months??! Too much humidity and too much sea water, chlorine and sun damage can cause hair to become dry and like wire wool! The best way to avoid the poodle look is to start by shampooing and conditioning, and then apply an anti-frizz cream to damp hair. If you have wavy or curly hair, use a curl enhancing mousse or gel and finish with an anti-frizz sealant or a spritz of humidity-proff hairspray.

For your face, think about using an SPF moisturiser which has a touch of self-tanner or a tinted moisturiser with SPF. For oily skin use a pressed powder to control but try and keep makeup to a minimum, to achieve a light, fresh, summer look.

Don’t forget to use SPF protection on your lips, by layering SPF balm on top of or underneath your lip colour, or choose a lip gloss or lipstick that has a built in sunscreen.

Go bold with your eye colour, and be up to date with one of this summer’s hottest trends - brights. Try shades of blue, purple, green or metallic shades. There are tonnes of new long-wear mascara’s on the market now, that will withstand the humidity, oily lids and perspiration. Stay put eyeliner will give you that finishing touch that will have a big impact.