Tuesday shopping!

When doing make-up on a client, I mostly use Kryolan foundation because it gives full coverage and depending on the application technique and what you mix it with, can become dewy, glowy or matt. I also have a range of 10 colours with which I can mix the perfect match for my client's skin tone. So, imagine my distress when I ran out of my favourite two light tones a while ago.

This afternoon I suddenly felt desperate to replace those two colours: Felo and Ivory, and so I did. I quickly popped into my Kryolan store and bought new pallette size foundations for my make-up kit. 

Thing is, Kryolan's Dermacolor Créme foundation is so affordable that I am tempted to go back tomorrow for a full size Felo foundation for myself. Why pay R250 for the Revlon Colorstay (I'm currently wearing daily and is great) when I can wear professional make-up with the same and better qualities for R210? 

Don't be surprised to see me rocking Kryolan Felo on the daily.

(This pic has been through an Instagram filter or two so these foundations look much darker than they actually are. Ivory, left and Felo, right.)

How to rock orange spotted skin

After spending the past weekend in Kwa-Zulu Natal, I've concluded that I truly belong to the sea. It's no surprise really because I was born in Port Shepstone and the first breath I drew was salty, humid sea air. That being said, I don't see myself moving to a seafront cottage soon but a girl can dream and maybe one day when I need false teeth and lashes daily, I'll have a seaview. For now, I'll stick to Johannesburg where I'm close to family and where my concealer doesn't oxidise. Because, let me tell you, some weird stuff happened to my skin this weekend.

I'm very pale which means that sunscreen is my friend and the only thing preventing me from burning tomato red. I use the Nivea face sunscreen with SPF50 when I know I'll be in the sun all day and this weekend I applied it generously in the South Coast sun but for the first time ever, it made my skin break out. These break outs caused me to freak out and I turned to my trusty Maybelline Fit Me concealer. The Maybelline Fit Me concealer is a favourite of anyone who has access to it (hard to find in SA), but no one has ever mentioned the bright orange it becomes when mixed with sunscreen! Bright. Orange.

I, of course, did not notice the colour changing magic that happened on my face until my fiancé stared puzzled, at my chin in Wimpy after I'd already ordered a coffee and smiled at various people looking at (orange spotted) me. I can only imagine what they were thinking...

The other disconcerting thing about my orange spotted skin was that sunscreen, I found, is an excellent setting primer as it makes removing concealer very difficult. Wiping at it with a tissue, did not cut it and so I had to wait until I had access to my make-up remover again before I could fix it.

The only solution that was left to this make-up moment was to remind myself of third world problems and tug my neckline lower to focus attention away from my face.

I won't go into any of the other beauty issues I had to deal with because the weekend was well worth the worries but the highlights include sand, sweat and hair stuck to my face. Luckily no mistake is without lesson so I learned that I still need to master make-up in humid weather and while my heart belongs at the ocean, my skin clearly does not.

Orange spotted face essentials

Foundation woes on a Sunday

I could have easily walked out of Woolworths today with both a Smashbox Liquid Halo and a Stila Stay All Day foundation. I also had my eye on the Smashbox Favourites collection which is a sample size pack of Smashbox's best products but due to lack of service and testers, I left empty handed.

I haven't tried either of the above mentioned foundations yet and because I am in the market for a foundation, I felt like trying one I haven't before. This means that I also had to do some serious colour matching and went with a bare face so that I can find the perfect fit.

I usually go to Woolworths Clearwater when I do feel like my W card is burning a hole in my pocket but because I wanted make-up, I drove the few extra kilometres to Cresta as Clearwater does not stock any high end cosmetics. While I was absolutely vulnerable to spend a great deal of money on make-up on a Sunday, Woolworths just wasn't interested in taking advantage of it.

Upon walking into Woolworths, the Smashbox stand winked at me and I immediately started unpacking the shelves for a tester to try on myself but there were no testers available for my skin tone and so without panicking, I scanned the cosmetic section for the nearest Woolworths employee. No one seemed to be around but without being deterred, I turned towards the Stila shelf. But despite my excitement, I ran into exactly the same problem - no tester and no employee to assist with the no tester problem.

Annoyed, I walked around the cosmetics section for a bit looking for someone to help me. I finally caught the eye of an employee across the aisle in the clothing section and smiled brightly but instead of being encouraged to approach, the employee looked in a different direction.

Should I have asked for the manager? Should I have waited for the cosmetic section employees to return and then complained? I could've but I chose to leave with a frown on my bare face and vowed to never buy from Woolworths Cresta again.

A while ago I wouldn't have been able to keep this vow but luckily Foschini is now stocking Smashbox and if I am still convinced that I need the Stila foundation in my life a month from now, I can buy it from Truworths and Stuttafords. Woolworths clearly does not want my money so why in the world would I get upset if I can't give it to them?

Glue that shadow!

Ever bought an eyeshadow because of its magical, vibrant colour and were then disappointed upon applying it because despite its high price and quality brand name, the colour just does not give off like it promised? Ever applied an eyeshadow with great success only for it to crease and fade three hours into your day?

It might be because you did not prime your eyelids.

When you apply your eyeshadow to your naked, clean lids, you are exposing it to your natural oils and eye cream.  The natural oils on your lid makes for a slippery canvas and gives the eyeshadow a transport medium to those fine lines and eye crease. It is therefore necessary to prepare your canvas as follows:

-  Absorb the oil from your lids.
Whether your oily lids are from your freshly applied eye cream or natural oil producing skin, blot your eyelids with a tissue. If you are particularly oily, try oil control paper. It is inexpensive and you can carry it in your handbag to also use it during the day on your T-zone.

- Apply primer.
There are many different products you can use to prime your lids including concealers, eyeshadow primers, eyeshadow bases and cream eyeshadows.

You can use a liquid concealer that does not crease to conceal the veins on your lids and match your foundation. The best type of concealer for this function would be one you'd usually use for the under-eye area. Try:

MAC pro longwear concealer (MAC stores, R240.00)

or LA Girl (Cruelty-free) pro concealer (Dischem, R45.95). 

If you are wearing shimmery or glittery shadows or an eyeshadow that is very powdery, you want something with a stickier texture, like an eyeshadow base or cream eyeshadow. Cream eyeshadows and bases will conceal any discolouration and veins on your lids as well as create a base colour that you can wear by itself or apply shadow over. Try:

MAC paint pot in Stormy Pink (MAC, R220.00)

NYX Eyeshadow base (Clicks, TBA)

Eyeshadow primers are colourless and is therefore perfect if you don't want your eyeshadow colour altered which above mentioned products tend to do. When I am in the mood to go all out on my eyes, I apply a concealer and a primer for coverage and intense colour. Try:

Smashbox Shadow primer (Woolworths & Foschini, R230.00)

Palladio (Cruelty-free) eyeshadow primer (Dischem, R74.95)

And if you are in need of magic but you have none of the products above? Use eyeliner. 

Just try it:

NYX Jumbo eye pencil in Milk (Clicks, TBA)

Where are the SA beauty vloggers?

On my YouTube channel subscription tab, I have a long, long list of beauty channels. It is like watching Style Network but better. On YouTube, I have no TV schedule to follow to get my make-up tutorial and beauty tip fix and endless options.

Problem is, that although I love each and every one of these beauty vloggers, they mostly feature brands like Tarte, Urban Decay and Too Faced that are not sold commercially in South Africa. This is due to the fact that I have been following vloggers from all over the world, ranging from the USA to Australia but no South Africans in between.

When I came to the realisation that a South African vlogger might be able to relate to my beauty issues and would more likely be reviewing items from Clicks and Dischem that I can pick up on my next supply run, I started searching for South African vloggers. The YouTube search was not much help and returned all kinds of silliness and very few hits when I entered "South African beauty guru" into the engine.

I then went to my favourite SA blogs to see whether they I can find their vlog links and recommendations. Long search short, I am now subscribing to the following SA beauty channels:

• LipglossKisses
• Not Another Poppie
• Pink Peonies Blog
• The Glam Green Girl

It seems that either I'm missing something or South Africans are slow to catch onto YouTube vlogging. Please leave a comment if you can recommend a SA vlogger who regularly uploads videos to add to my selection of beauty kicks.

Film day - Into the Woods

My mom treated my sister and I to a movie day and we went to see Into the Woods. I've been waiting for this film since 2013 when it was announced that the movie is going into production and the wait has been worth it.

The film stars Johnny Depp as the very creepy Wolf  and I was intrigued by the styling of the character. No prosthetics were used in the wolf make-up but the facial hair was styled to bring wolfish elements to his face. After debating on why he was left as human as possible, I did some Google research. It seems like I'm not the only one disturbed by the out-of-period costume and confirmed my suspicion that this design was to portray the wolf as a sexual predator. The Wolf's scenes were unsettling and it will take a while for me to see Depp as a benevolent guy again.

I particularly enjoyed the witch's (Meryl Streep) make-up. Both her aging make-up and her young, beautfying make-up was inspiring and I am keeping an eye out for looks inspired by the witch's make-up.

While we're on the subject of inspired looks, I found this beautiful Rapunzel make-up tutorial by Teni Panosian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSFs1AdY2Cw . Go check out how awesome she did the braid. It's perfect for layered hair and I'm planning on picking up some small hair bands on my next trip to the store.

This film exceeded my expectations and I am now anxious for the DVD release.

P.S. Go read what the costume designer, Colleen Atwood, herself had to say about the wolf's costume.
http://www.vanityfair.com/vf-hollywood/2014/12/johnny-depp-into-the-woods-wolf-costume

Make-up resolutions 2015

I'm not one for making New Year's resolutions, not usually, but with a new year the chance to reflect on where I can improve is inevitable and so these are my personal make-up resolutions for 2015:

• Be brave and bold - take risks. I tend to stay in a more neutral, natural colour pallette when doing my own make-up and although natural is great, bolder is better and can make you look fresh and young.

• Perfect my winged eyeliner. I have hooded lids and although applying liner to a client mostly goes seamlessly, trying to create a wing over my own crease is mostly a challenge.

• Wear more lipstick. I like lipstick but I love eyeshadow and because I'm all about the eyes, I tend to neglect the lips. Although I do apply lipstick daily, I am lazy to reapply and often skip lipliner. I realise the power of a pretty pout so I want to tap into that.

I'd also like to sign up for an airbrush make-up workshop or two but with my own wedding coming up in 2015, I think that should be a whole new resolution for a whole new year.

P.S. I finally order my Jaclyn Hill Morphe Brushes palette! Now to try and sleep until I get it...

Morphe Brushes pallette - Jaclyn Hill favourites

So Jaclyn Hill fans have been sitting on the edge of their seats for the last 48hrs, refreshing the Morphe Brushes website every few minutes in an attempt to buy their new eyeshadow pallette, Jaclyn Hill Favorites. Thing is, the fans have been overloading the website with traffic since the sale of this pallette went live at 00h00 on 01/01/2015, making it nearly impossible to order the pallette.

I have been holding out for this pallette as a Christmas gift ever since I have started making my wishlist so I'm very anxious to get my order placed too. I have been one of those crazed fans for the last two days agonising over whether this limited edition pallette will sell out before I can secure one but am now just quietly hoping and waiting for the traffic to clear, thinking that I might settle for some Sigma brushes if I miss out on this gorgeous pallette.

This exercise demonstrates the popularity of make-up artist and YouTuber, Jaclyn Hill, and how we can't help but adore her and her recommendations. Don't buy the Morphe Brushes JH pallette now because it will only worsen the situation on the MB website, but you do have to take note of this woman who managed to crash a very large website.

Bridal shower idea - Makeover Party

If your friend bestowed the honor of bridesmaid or maid of honor on you and trust you not to embarrass her in front of the matriarchs of the family on her bachelorette party or bridal shower, you are probably looking for a fun way to have girl time without having to subject her grandmother to a lap dance lesson.

Here's an idea: hire the bride's make-up artist for the day and have a makeover party! 

There are many benefits to going this route. Ask the make-up artist to give make-up tutorials and use the bridesmaids or, to make her feel special, the bride's mother, as models to demonstrate make-up do's and dont's. The artist can teach a variety of looks, which can includes a quick five minute make-up for the girl-on-the-run, a smokey eye for the evening and a corrective make-up for mature skin, to the guests or give insider tips on those make-up tricks that blow our minds (lifting the hooded lid, using liquid eyeliner, making fake eyelashes stick and lipstick last).

These lessons can serve as a trial for the bridal make-up too (save on the wedding budget!) where the bride can test the MUA's work while giving a step-by-step demo so they can recreate the look themselves .

If you have a theme, say a mad hatter's tea or belly dancing party, the MUA can create quick looks on the ladies for beautiful, fun photos. 

That way the bride will get a good sense of the MUA's skills and methods (does the MUA use the same brush on two different clients without cleaning it first?), while you are essentially hosting a make-up masterclass.

Too boring?

For a sexy, empowering bachelorette without the naughty toys, hire a bodypainter. The artist can paint the bride to look as if she is wearing a hot corset or lingerie while she is actually clothed in a bikini or still in her jeans.

My YouTube subscriptions

There are a few YouTube channels that I subscribe to for my daily make-up fix. Whether I need inspiration for my own day look or just a few recommendations when I don't know what new products to spend my money on, the following YouTubers are in the know:

- Jaclyn Hill

You'll love her. I swear, you'll instantly love her. She is bubbly and energetic and enthusiastic and just what you need when you need a tutorial on how to create a unique beauty make-up.

- Madeyewlook by Lex

Alexys Fleming's channel is bodypainting paradise. She has all kinds of crazy and beautiful on her channel and I don't know how she hasn't got 1 million subscribers yet! She creates looks inspired by anything from comic books and video game characters to classic monsters and iconic creatures - go subscribe and you'll see what I mean.

- Tati

Tati Westbrook is the GlamLifeGuru and she is strikingly beautiful inside and out. She talks about everything from make-up and beauty products to weddings and life. A truly inspirational woman, you'll find her Tip Tuesdays especially useful.

- Makeup Geek

Marlena owns the cosmetic brand, Makeup Geek, and when I grow up one day I want to be her. Joy beams from her pores and her business sense and bravery has made her brand a huge success. It focuses on high end quality make-up at drugstore prices while also teaching women how to apply it. If you don't own a Makeup Geek eyeshadow yet, go spoil yourself. Now.

- Bailey van der Deen

This Canadian make-up artist was one of the finalists in the NYX Face Awards 2014 and she is seriously "undersubscribed". Her ideas are fresh and her make-up is flawless. 

If you don't know these make-up artists yet, Google them or search YouTube. Take their advice to heart and your make-up skills will improve instantly.