On the quest for youth...and a quick fix?

I've often said this and will repeat myself, we women are so hard on ourselves especially as we hit milestones like our 30's, 40's and 50's.  I do my damnedest to ignore these myself, its not easy but I don't beat the living daylights out of my growing older.  I often receive very harsh messages from friends, even friends of friends hitting a panic button to ask for advice on a 'turn the clock back now' product.
They must hate me, I begin with explaining how working on a routine, method and outlook is a healthy place to start.  It is often dashed with the 'but you must know a product that works?'

I do. I know plenty that work but like I say, this banishing the lines and open pores is part of an on going process and we are not all blessed with good genes, cheekbones and a non surgical skin specialist in the family.
Saying this I love my job and my dedication to the cause by testing out every skincare product I recommend, review and rave about, I honestly do.  I have to love it to love you to try it!  And I'm no snob about price either - there are star products out there and some are cheap as chips and other that are a good investment such as Gazelli Triple Youth White Oil REVIVING EYE CREAM.

At £40 for 15ml, I will start by saying a little amount on your ring finger tapped around the eye contours am and pm does mean a little goes a long way, in addition to it's qualities of soothing and nourishing the delicate eye area (bless the White Oil), de-puffing (thanks Black Tea) and one of my favourite things when it comes to these good skincare products, brightening (much obliged Rose Extract)!

Of course, I am not out slaying dragons, just testing the large youth pool of products for myself and whoever's reading or listening and I will keep repeating myself, a good place to start is with a routine, a method and attitude towards healthy skin not just quick fixes!

Check out Gazelli now if its not on your beauty radar!

www.gazelli.com 

Urban Retreat Harrods

The Josh Wood Atelier

Beauty Alert: Amazing Face? You got it!

If you still haven't quite opted for a skincare routine that includes full blown deep cleansing let alone double cleansing then I'd suggest you take a step in the right direction with a facial wash such as Emma Hardie Amazing Face Moringa Foaming Cleansing Wash  We all have busy lives but beg for our skin to gleam in good condition, be grime-free and immaculate with little effort.

The foam is made up of essential oils to condition and balance your skin, yes, no feeling of your complexion being stripped dry, plus there are clever fruit enzymes along with the Moringa extracts which gently exfoliate leaving skin brighter, smoother and positively amazing.  Simply disperse a ten pence coin size to the palm of you hand, massage over you face, neck and decollete, then rinse off with warm water.  

Read more about Emma Hardie products on my blog here and get yourself familiar with super cleansing techniques including the dual action cloth; its an essential!

www.emmahardie.com

Beauty Alert: I spy something beginning with EYE!

I'm full of regret these days. As I get ever closer to my mid-40's *gulp* I recall moments of pure, unadulterated bravado and stupidity in my 20's.  "I won't get sucked into buying eye creams!" and "I will never dye my hair to cover the greys, that's so vain!!!"

  I am virtually slapping my face right now, like the scene in Airplane, when they all queue up to take turns.  What was I thinking, was I going mad?  

Since I've embarked on the path to parenting I pine for time and minimal effort to make myself appear less frazzled.  Eye creams for one have never taken on a huge role in my routine, instead, I have concentrated on the general appearance and quality of my complexion.  Roll on sleepless nights literally due to over-tiredness and I find concealer doesn't always cut it, although effectively disguises shadows but does little for the sunken eyes.

QVC is at times like being rocked to sleep by a soothing voice you can trust with the gravitational pull of easy payments and it was during one of those nights I was lured by the lullabies of the presenter who mentioned Joan Collins Timeless Beauty up next.  

I am a fan, not just of Ms Collins herself but I have reviewed her Divine Lips and Nail Lacquer not so long ago (view here) so I couldn't resist an eyeful of more luxury items to drool over.

I almost immediately received upteen text messages from friends and relatives watching our 'Joanie' on QVC that night (must have been a full moon) when her Timeless Beauty Contra Time 'Eyelift in a bottle' SuperLift aired and they pretty much all asked the same thing 'Do you think it really works?'

I was struck by the texture I saw glistening ever so slightly when she smeared the opaque formula onto the back of her hand.  There was only one way of knowing, I had to try it for myself!

Whether its the plant extracts or cermides (our friendly, waxy molecules) or the gentle tapping upwards around the eye area, Superlift leaves a healthy suppleness by de-puffing those delicate parts with the added bonus of brightening too. 

So yes, it does work and achieves much more.  I have more eye products I've spied and tested, plus some positively phenomenal skincare products to have you racing to my favourite beauty destinations...look out!

My Portfolio Memoirs: Blue Eye

Blue Eye, photographed by Giorgio Kstakis

There are so many incredible and inspiring Make up Artists' with decades of experience, some of which I've had the pleasure to meet such as the awesome and technical creative genius, Sharon Dowsett and I've even made up the 'super' skin expert herself, Ruby Hammer for editorial shoots.  Their portfolios overflow with iconic images, precise and dynamic artistry, always catching my eye and curiosity; how did that 'look' come about?  What's the story?  Why use THAT texture there?  What's was the intention for applying a colour there in that way?  So many questions but we rarely get that insight.

Last night, while suffering a bout of insomnia,  I scanned through a Pro Make up Artist group and came across a comment regarding Val Garland's online make up school, Mastered.com.  Seems there are mixed reviews on whether an online masterclass, aimed towards working artists', would truly offer up valuable knowledge, practical tuition on application and techniques or just squeeze the purses of upcoming individuals via a glorified 'You Tube' like tutorial.  

I wouldn't want to get negative about Ms Garland, her work is innovative, clever and at times so artful it makes me wish I had been more confident throughout my career.  With this in mind it lead me to accept this online approach a very good idea to master make up to a brief, with a chance to make mistakes to then develop an understanding and purposeful approach towards a look, sometimes under pressure, just like the real world.  I would have relished in such an intimate class as a newbie, most likely thrived with more confidence too! 

The idea of such a make up maestro, I'd have online access to, showing me the thought process behind each and every application excites me further, as I am hungry to understand the narrative towards the final look, much like as in art exams where you include your prep work, makes sense to me.

I'd like to go through my archives for you every now and then to tell you about how the final image came about.   To begin with, this image of the Blue Eye was an idea I visualised in the middle of the night about 15 years ago, I remember the moment I scribbled a quick drawing on a post-it note placed beside my bed; a handy habit for my creative ideas.
Once I scouted a suitable model of Caribbean descent who was blessed with a smooth, cinnamon complexion and had approached the testing photographer keen to push his skills further, I knew we'd produce a number of beautiful images for our books.
Mimicking a lash shape along the eye lid was easy, it took minutes but finding the right shine to stay in place with a splash of colour but I experimented with lipgloss and MAC gloss in a tube, though finally settled on the consistency of Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream, originally created in the 1930's and today's iconic hero.  At the time my initial vision was of a peach-apricot shade on dark skin but instead I opted for a peacock blue eye shadow by MAC, from my rather meagre 'starting out' palette, which I'd crushed with the end of a make up brush then added to the balm-like substance to make a rather gloopy consistency and voila!
Back then the photographer shot on film, a painstaking process to some now but I miss it.  We'd sift through his edits from the shoot which would always be accompanied by lots of work chat, gossip and coffee.  We finally decided on 4 very strong photos all of cropped as much as aesthetics would allow, therefore, Blue Eye remained the focal point  in this instance (excuse the pun).
Some time after this image hit my portfolio and it became a signature image for me,  the photograph had been used without permission for an art scene coffee table book for a rather famous publishing house.  No, not even the photographer was credited, however, it proved to us this picture had strength and impact and so it remains in my portfolio to this day plus continues to receive much praise and the question I've been asked now for well over a decade, "What did you use on her eye?"