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The Makeup Thread

Whisky Priestess

10:53 / 10.08.07

(mods, if you think this will go better in Art, Fashion & Design, please move)

I've been meaning to start this thread for absolutely AGES, and I'm on lunch, so I will.

I'm sick of companies advertising stuff to me that doesn't do what it says on the tin, when the only way to find out whether it works or not is to buy it. So it's STRONG TRUTH time on cosmetics.

I'll start: the Boots No. 7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum which caused a stampede earlier this year? Apparently an independent test had PROVED - PROVED, mind you! that it helped "photo-aged" skin (it's a wrinkle basher basically). I thought I'd give it a try, have used it every day and I can see absolutely fuck all effect. This means:
1) It has fuck all effect
2) it has a tiny cumulative effect too subtle to see after only a month
3) My skin's not "photo-aged" (sun-damaged), and so I cannot be helped!

On the other hand it's not £100/pot like Creme de la Mer (which I am assured does work) and it looks a bit like spunk, which I find amusing, so I think I'll give it a bit longer.

On the other hand, Ruby & Millie's Cheek Glow stick blusher is fab and very natural looking (if a bit sticky on your face) and Rimmel Extra Volume Mascara (the one in the ad with Kate Moss where you put on a white layer and then a black one does the trick very well too.

Alas, I am now allergic to Estee Lauder's Touche Eclat, but it never did much for me anyway. Anyone else a big fan?

11:55 / 10.08.07

Whiskey, I had just thought of starting this very thread just yesterday. There goes that weird barbe-mind-coincidence, again.

So, I really don't like makeup. I have had to wear it for years. I feel like my face can't breathe with it on. I do like a little bit, and it helps me present better in interviews. An absolute staple is a corrective make-up called Portfolio Correctors by Lise Watier. I found out about when I had was healing, and my face was black and blue. It did te most awesome job of covering up flaws and hiding bruises. Now, I don't need to hide bruises anymore, thank goodness, but I love the flawless way a little bit will even out my skin tone.

The only issue I have with it is that I am trying to buy beauty products which are also ethically sound, and as natural as possible. Somehow I doubt that is true of this product. My lipstick though is just a simple, hi-shine gloss from The Body Shop with proceeds that go to Stop Violence In the Home. I like that the product is not only ethically made, but goes to a cause I am passionate about. Plus, it smells so yummy! My son, however, being the smartypants that he can be says, "Mom, your lipgloss is hurting my eyes!". The dickens! He thinks that is quite funny. To each their own, I suppose!

20:50 / 10.08.07

Oh, I desperately need makeup recommendations, since I'm doing my own makeup for my wedding and don't know what to get. But you're all going to talk about UK brands I can't buy, boo hoo!

Anyway, a few years ago I had a tube of Clinique lipstick that I am normally too poor to buy - I think it was about $12 - but it was very nice in color and feel, though it wasn't very long-lasting.

One - actually, two - products I have been very pleased with this summer are Jergen's Natural Glow facial moisturizer and Neutrogena Summer Glow daily body moisturizer, both with SPF 30. I haven't noticed any fake tanning, as they're supposed to do, but the sunscreen in them works fantastically well, and neither feels greasy on my skin. Usually I can put these on just once in the morning and be protected all day.

Now, also in the interest of bridal beautification, I bought a Sally Hansen waxing kit, thinking I would learn how to do my brows (I normally tweeze), and perhaps if that went well... other things. These would be the wax strips you are supposed to warm by rubbing them between your hands. They suck. I had slightly better results warming them with a blowdryer, but still they mostly suck. They only grab the hair about 15% of the time I use them, and have about the same chance of ripping the first layer of skin off my face, so. Not recommended.

Leigh Monster loses its cool

21:31 / 10.08.07

Sally Hansen products do suck. I never do anything about my eyebrows, but for other things I use a brand called surgi-wax, which sounds unappealing but works well and is relatively unpainful and unmessy. The biggest drawback is that you have to heat it in the microwave in its plastic container, so you're probably getting a little cancer in exchange for hairlessness.

Leigh Monster loses its cool

21:33 / 10.08.07

PS I'd stick with tweezing for eyebrows...twice I've seen my friends get professional eyebrow-waxes and come back with face-burns or allergic reactions that required huge amounts of greasy salve and took a long time to look normal again.

21:52 / 10.08.07

Another vote for Surgi Wax, which I don't use (I'm a razor and tweezer person) but is my brother's brand of choice for a variety of hair-removing, including the eyebrows.

I have a small crate of Principal Secret toning mask jars, but am too lazy to try them out. With an upcoming speaking gig, I've become a bit nervous about the state of my skin, though, so I might have to break open the seal, set out the egg-timer, and all that. (Nobody's coming to hear me talk, of course, but to look at my pores and bedroom eyes which they can see all the way from the auditorium seating. It's true.) Anybody use the stuff before? Worth it, not worth it? Is it at least a decent placebo?

23:45 / 10.08.07

I suppose I always just try to leave the house with a dash of cold cream and my trousers on, make-up wise.

Sometimes though, I forget aspects of the situation.

14:55 / 11.08.07

I can recommend Chanel liquid eyeliner pen thing, ecriture de chanel. It's a bit pricey but not too messy.
I'm still trying to master the art of liquid eye-lining (could do with some help for the lefteye, tips welcome) but in anthracite it's more forgiving.

16:40 / 11.08.07

I *never* spend more than a pound on eyeliner.
The Amy Winehouse (but a man) look works best with cheap cosmetics.