Micellar water - on the fence

I have seen beauty bloggers rave over micellar cleansing waters for a while now and I have been itching to try it. Firstly because I have dry, sensitive skin and micellar waters promise to restore moisture to your skin while cleansing and secondly because it removes make-up as well as cleanse and tone.

For some time now I have been using cleansing oils instead of foaming or gel cleansers and although I have had great results and no complaints with it, curiousity got the better of me and a week ago I got my hands on the Garnier micellar water.

This micellar cleansing water uses micellar technology to remove make-up and dirt from the skin. It is suitable for all skin types including sensitive skin and claims that no rubbing is necessary to remove impurities. You also don't need to wash the product off after cleansing so it is ideal for lazy nights which is every night for me.

My worst fear in trying this product was that my face would burn and become irritated and red upon application but it feels incredibly refreshing on my skin and it leaves my dry cheeks plump with moisture yet toned.

However, my make-up does heavy duty to last through a 16 hour day and the micellar water does not seem quite micellar enough to remove all of the layers setting products. (Micells are tiny oil molecules which attract dirt.) I have to wipe with more than 2ml of the solution more than once to remove everything while my waterproof mascara does not budge. To be fair, the mascara is designed to withstand water but this means that I have to use an additional cleanser anyway which kind of defeats the purpose.

This has left me wondering whether the vloggers and bloggers who loves it do not use waterproof mascara or are sponsored by Garnier. I would like to try other brands to see if I can find one I absolutely love but I do not have the budget for trial and error so please tell me what micellar waters I should try. If it is cruelty free, even better!

Liquid metallic effect

I rocked this look on Friday.

It was a bit bold for a day look and maybe not very wintery but I felt like taking my eyeshadow up a notch that morning so I skipped the winged eyeliner and lashes to make it more wearable. By 22h00 that evening, it was still vibrant and in place.

Here's how I got the colour to go on like a liquid metal and made it stick for over 12 hours.

First, eyeshadow primer. See my favourite eye primers here.


I followed that with my Kryolan black eyeliner pencil (cruelty-free) over my lid and not taking it higher than my crease. I evened it out and then dipped into my colour.

For an intense colour with minimal fallout, it is best to layer your eyeshadow with a flat, dense eyeshadow brush. I used my Clarins Ultraviolet shadow (discontinued) and a purple from an E.l.f. shadow duo (cruelty-free). I set the eye liner with the E.l.f. shadow and then wet a dense flat shadow brush with Smashbox Primer water and pressed it into my ultraviolet shadow. I covered my lid with the ultraviolet until I was satisfied with the intensity and then I pressed more dry ultraviolet shadow with my finger onto the lid while my lid was still damp.

I worked a peach and brown eyeshadow into the crease for a smooth transition into my nude brow bone colour, definition and depth and then sprayed my lids with the primer water again.

I finished the rest of my make-up, leaving my mascara for later and then set everything with my Avon make-up setting spray.  Once my face was dry, I applied my mascara.

I rubbed my eyes during the course of the day and even put some eye drops in but the colour stayed beautifully.

When I achieve long lasting colour like this, I'm always tempted to leave it on overnight to test whether it will transfer to my pillow and smudge or surprise me by waking up pretty in the morning but the threat of premature wrinkles always wins.

So, try this with any of your shimmery, metallic eyeshadows and pigments and let me know how it works for you.

Blue eye shadow, no primer - bad idea

If my previous post about priming your eye lids didn't convince you that applying your eye shadow to naked lids is a bad idea, maybe this one will. For the last two months I've been testing make-up products and experimenting with looks for my wedding day. I've tried glamorous, natural, smokey and long lasting looks - all in nudes and browns and so it was not surprising that after not wanting to wear any make-up for the first few days after the wedding, I grabbed for my bright, blue eye shadows to get into the holiday swing of things.

But, because I was on holiday and lazy I did not feel the need to use my eye shadow primer or foundation before going bananas with the eye make-up, and although it looked great and holiday-ish for the first two hours, it looked bananas thereafter. Pretty soon the shadow started to crease and while my eye crease colour became more concentrated and less blended, the lid colour became more sheer and sore looking.

As a contact lens wearer, I am someone who rubs her eye lids often and without my usual eye lid primer and setting sprays, my blue eye shadow transferred to my bottom lids to enhance my eye bags and smeared to where it created blue cheek bones. I saved what I could with the quick wipe of a tissue but for the most part, I went with it.

I messed up my hair and pulled my shirt over my one shoulder so I could look like I really do not care and pretended that I'm bringing blue, grungy make-up back. I don't know how convincing I was and although I wouldn't have, at that stage, thought that it was my biggest make-up blunder yet, when it came to winding down for bed and removing my make-up, I sincerely regretted not spending 30 seconds more with my eye shadow primer that morning.

After slipping, sliding and smearing all over my eyes during that day, upon using make-up remover that night the blue eye shadow would not budge. My blue eye shadow on my fresh, naked lids had stained my skin. I rubbed vigorously with my various different make-up removers but in the end I had to get into bed with blue lids.

Needless to say that I have learned a lesson but this whole situation made me think of the scene in The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy asks the Emerald City beautician: "Can you even dye my eyes to match my gown?" I would recommend that Dorothy primes her eye lids first but if she asked me, my short answer would be: "Yes, Dorothy. Yes, I can."

My cruelty-free make-up products

So I have managed to make my personal make-up collection and artist kit for client s, mostly cruelty-free. I am still using the make-up I bought before taking the cruelty-free pledge but I will not re-purchase as I've managed to find cruelty-free alternatives for most of my favourites.

I've fine tuned my daily make-up to the following cruelty-free products:

 Kryolan foundation
 Essence blush
 E.l.f.  bronzer and highlight
 Essence translucent powder
 Smashbox volumising mascara
 Wet 'n Wild or Morphe Brushes eyeshadow
 and
 Catrice lipstick.

I am really struggling to find a cruelty-free brand setting spray though. I still have my Avon make-up setting spray which works like magic and have tried the Smashbox primer water as an alternative. The Smashbox Primer Water is amazing and really hydrating for under or over my foundation but it does not have the same lo
ng lasting effect on my make-up like the Avon spray has.

I am also still looking for a dupe for my L'Oreal Lumi primer though so please give me a shout if you know of something that I can replace it with.

My magic concealer combo

They say age is just a number but now that I am dangerously close to 30, I want to disagree. Although I still feel 17 at heart, I can see the difference in my skin. Those crow's feet and frown lines are getting just a little too deep for comfort and it seems like I'll never again not have blue circles under my eyes.

This means that I have had to up my game when it comes to concealer under my eyes. I have been taking serious notes from the YouTube guru's lately trying to find the perfect concealer that does not crease under the eyes. I have tried the drugstore holy grail, Maybelline Fit Me concealer (which is great but it does not have enough coverage), MAC studio fix concealer (it's a cream formula and way too thick), my Kryolan dermacolor (cruelty-free) and Essence's coverstick (cruelty-free). It did not work for me.

So in the mean while, I've decided to go cruelty-free on all of my cosmetics. This narrowed my choice of concealers down considerably. Luckily the LA Girl Pro concealer came highly recommended and checked the cruelty-free boxes so I started my hunt for it in Dischem stores. After finally finding an LA Girl Pro concealer in my shade the other day,  I found the concealer that works for me.

Of course, any concealer's potential to stay crease-free is only as good as its setting powder and so I've been setting it with Catrice's Prime and Fine translucent powder (cruelty-free). I was happy with the results but this week I grabbed for my Essence All About Matt fixing compact powder in a hurry and suddenly it was magic!

Assuming that I've been good and used a moisturising eye cream as a primer, the LA Girl concealer with Essence powder does not crease. Not even if I try really hard. Here's what I do:

I apply the concealer with my fingers - I find that a sponge or brush absorbs too much product and leaves the coverage too sheer - to the first eye bag and immediately set it using pressing motions with the powder and a powder puff, before moving onto the next eye.

The staying power is not bad and I don't touch up during the day but might re-apply if we are going out again for the evening. I feel like I'd rather compromise on the longevity than on the coverage.

I am super thrilled with this combination not only because it makes me look not-so-close-to-thirty but also because it is cruelty-free, inexpensive and magic. I feel like I've discovered a unicorn.

Rebuilding my make-up kit for animal love

I have recently signed up for the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet programme because I figured that if I feel super guilty after a spending spree at Woolworths, I can at least console myself in that a portion of my money is going to a good cause. I have been wanting to sign up for a long time and every time that I'm at a Woolies counter, I take one of the application forms (and I even filled out one of them once) but I have never actually submitted a form. I hadn't realised that I could so easily sign up for one online here.

If you're not familiar with the programme and live in South Africa, please take a moment to click here and go look at what it is all about. It might just convince you to sign up too.

In deciding which charities to choose, I came across Beauty Without Cruelty who is actively trying to prevent animal cruelty in South Africa. (WARNING: If you don't know what the word "vivisection" on their website means, don't try to Google it like I did. You'll be disturbed until next week.)

I absolutely support their efforts and have nominated them as one of my preferred charities. This, of course, made me think of all the cosmetics in my make-up kit that might be tested on animals.

Now, before you argue that it has to be safety tested somehow before it is sold for humans, please explain to me why, if they are using ingredients in their products that might not be safe and has to be tested in the first place, you would want those ingredients on your body at all? 

My day job is in the medical field and thus I am not completely oblivious to the necessity of using animals for testing. Without animal testing, we cannot possibly advance our medical research but beauty products are a luxury and I do not see the need for animal testing unless they are adding some crazy, carcinogenic, chemical stuff to my make-up.

Over the last few weeks, through some of my favourite make-up guru's, I have come to the realisation that many of my favourite cosmetic brands are being tested on animals. In this video at 04:00 minutes in, Samantha from Batalashbeauty explains why you might think your cosmetics are cruelty-free when in fact there is some animal testing going on behind the scenes. She also visits Lush HQ in this video so you can understand why Lush is truly such a great brand. (And why we NEED a Lush store in Johannesburg...)

It has been bothering me but I am now committed to do something about it. Before I buy a product, I want to do research on which cosmetics are indeed cruelty free. I am also slowly replacing non-cruelty free make-up in my kit as I run out of it although it is difficult to find good, professional quality alternatives for some of the products.

Beauty Without Cruelty has a list of cosmetic brands which they endorse. Their criteria is very strict and specific so you know that it is guaranteed cruelty-free. It is also worth reading through your favourite cosmetic brands' mission statements on their website to see whether they are against animal testing before making a purchase.

I am a bit of tree hugger and I am hoping that you might become one too but if you are still not convinced that animal testing is not ethical, maybe you should Google "vivisection" and click on the Images tab.

Coverstick Basics

Life lesson #415 that I learned: sunscreen and make-up don't always mix. I wrote about it in my How to rock orange spotted skin post. After I eventually cleaned my face and weighed the long term effects of UV ray damage against the importance of covering zits, I reapplied my sunscreen and went bare faced. For a while.

It didn't take me long to start looking through my cosmetics bag for something else to cover my blemishes with and found my Essence coverstick in 06 Matt Ivory.

I love coversticks. They are compact and thus perfect to carry around for touch-ups during the day. They are also a cream formula which means that they give full cover over blemishes and does not oxidise which is why it was perfect for above mentioned dilemma.

I do, however, feel compelled to cover a few coverstick basics as I see too many women using their coversticks as if they are crayons.

Despite the lipstick tube format that coversticks come in, they are not meant to be applied to your skin the way you would lipstick to your lips . Because of their very heavy, creamy consistency, crayon application of your coverstick concealer is a foolproof way to make your skin look cakey and unnatural. The idea is to conceal your blemishes, not to replace it with an odd-looking splodge on your skin.

When applying your coverstick, dab a sponge or concealer brush on the coverstick tip and apply the concealer with the tool. If you don't have any of these handy, a clean finger will do. This is a good technique for three main reasons:

1. Pressing the coverstick directly onto your blemish transfers any of the bacteria on your skin to the coverstick. By contaminating your concealer, you are not only shortening the life of your make-up but aggravating your acne or zits.
2. Dabbing your tool over the blemish creates a lighter, more even application which blends into your skin or foundation.
3. You are pressing the concealer into the skin and therefore prolonging its wear, as opposed to concealer just sitting on top of the skin with crayon application.

It is also necessary to set the coverstick concealer just like you would your liquid concealer and foundation with powder.

Coverstick concealers were meant to disguise blemishes and discolouration but that does not include the blue bags under your eyes. You are sure to get heavy creasing if you attempt to use this under your eyes. Rather use a liquid concealer for your eye that is known for its non-creasing quality.

I find that it is not necessary to spend a lot on a good coverstick. Most drugstore brands' coversticks are great and inexpensive so adding one to your cosmetic collection won't break the bank. The Essence coversticks are R36.95 and you can pick up a Yardley Oatmeal one for about R59.95  at Dischem and Clicks. Just don't let their containers tempt you into lazy application.