Tag: makeup

21
Jul

My fave picks from Clinique, Revlon, L’Oreal…

So many brand.

So many product.

Sometimes you just want to know which is The Golden One.

CLINIQUE

I am a BIG, LOUD, CAPS LOCKY champion of Clinique makeup. I think they do a fantastic job of colour, and are completely underrated because everyone focuses on their skin care, (yknow, chubbies aside). My pick of their current range is Beyond Perfecting Foundation and Concealer, which I saw getting amazing press and had to try because I am a sucker for hype just like you. It’s full coverage, quite thick in fact, (you need only a wee bit; try mixing in some BB if you need more spread. I tend not to use the wand applicator, but apply onto fingers then face) but radiant (something you usually only get in sheer formulas.) And it lasts.

It covers pigmentation beautifully AND acts as a formidable undereye concealer, which is one of its selling points, yes, but generally speaking foundation-and-concealer in one is a terrible idea because the skin is so different (in texture and tone) on the eye area compared to the rest of the face. However, in this case, it’s an unterrible idea, because the eye area is beautifully concealed, and not at all crepey or dry. I care less about my smile lines these days (more comfortable in my skin as I age? Nah. Just less time to worry about shit like that.)

Please note: The shades are darker than you think. Test before buy.

CLiniqueBP

REVLON

Revlon make some outstanding foundations and lip/eye products (such as my favourite orange lip product: Colorstay Lip Balm Stain in Rendezvous) but it’s the Revlon Brow Fantasy I am back in love with at the moment: a simple, old school brow pencil and gel in one. Even though I have dark hair, I use the dark blonde as it lacks the red undertones you often get in brunette/brown shades. I also love the Revlon Colorstay Brow Liner, which is waxy and high pigment, but far from foolproof, unfortunately.

(Special nod to the Revlon PhotoReady Eye Primer + Brightener, which is meant to be a kind of Touché Éclat eye illuminator, but my preferred application is all over the eyelids to conceal all the veins and redness, and make the eye seem super bright and awake. It’s a good primer for shadows, but worn alone you get this super fresh, youthful natural look.)

RevlonBrowFantasy

RIMMEL

I’m a crazed fool for BB and CC creams, so was happy to discover Rimmel’s BB Cream Radiance while in a bit of a BB-CC rut lately. It is the perfect lo-fi daily coverage for those who need a bit more than BB cream or a tinted moisturiser, but still want to look fresh. (This is not a matte finish. Matte is not for me. I will never write up anything matte cos I have dry, not oily, skin, and also matte once said I couldn’t dance and I will never forgive him.)

Rimmel BB Cream radiance

 

L’OREAL PARIS

Their BB cream is diamonds, but it’s their tinted brow gel I’m into right now, the Brow Artist Plumper. It’s far more natural/subtle a look than pencils/waxes/powder etc, and ideal for when your brows are already tinted, say, (or not too gappy) and you just want to groom them with a touch of tint. It’s way less pigmented and thick than Mac’s Brow Fix, (read: less room for error), and I use the xxx shade on its own for get-out-the-door face, or to finish expertly filled in brows when I have more time. I like how it allows me to have the brushed-up, Olsen-Twins bushy look, which is hard to get with pencils and spoolies. Oh and hey, wipe the brush off before you apply, mate, or risk globs and mess.

Loreal-Brow Artist plumper

 

FACE OF AUSTRALIA

A cheeky little brand that makes cracking products for about 1/400th of the price of So Many Others, I usually have at least one FOC product kicking around in my kit. (Did I just use the word ‘kit’? What, I think I’m a makeup artist now? What a dickhead.) I particularly like their powder blush in Primrose, which is ‘known’ in makeup and beauty blog circles. It looks a bit intense and shimmery in the compact, but is in fact wildly flattering (I have olive but relatively pale skin). It’s a rosy, ‘I’m blushing’ flush of pink, with a subtle sheen but very HIGHLY pigmented, so for the love of Liam Hemsworth, use a quality blush brush (I use the Bobbi Brown blush brush because of the dome top) and go easy.

face-of-australia-blusher-primrose

 

In this photo I did a bit of a mixy mixy thingo with most of the above products, and wore a cosy wool sweater because winter. I am wearing Rimmel Radiance BB cream all over, Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation and Concealer under the eyes and blended over pigment on cheeks and forehead, L’Oreal Brow Artist Plumper in Dark Brunette over brow shadow, and the Face Of Australia Powder Blush in Primrose. (On my eyes it’s just mascara and Revlon PhotoReady Eye Primer + Brightener. No shadow. That ‘liner’ you see on the lashline is a smudge of mascara. So profesh.)

 

ZoeFB5products

 

Responses to this drivel: 19 Comments
04
May

Event beauty preparation.

These are the people, the treatments and the shortcuts involved in my Logies preparation this year. You can easily use a similar approach for your wedding day, 40th, or cincoanera.

You will note the absence of Flaky Jim’s Skin Palace. This is for good reason. NO MORE, JIM. It’s over.

FACE

As I have mentioned more times than can possibly be interesting, my chief skin concern is hyperpigmentation. I am about to stop breastfeeding, and hoping that the final remnants of the hormonal pigmentation will fuck off when that happens, but that said, I get it regardless of cute babies I make. So, I used the Logies as an excuse to do something about it and improve my skin in general.

I will do longer post on the treatment I’ve been having, DermaFrac, for the last couple of months, because IT IS ACTUALLY WORKING, but the headlines are:

  • I have it every 2-3 weeks at Me Skin and Body in South Yarra
  • It takes 40 mins because I skip the dermabrasion bit, I just have a lactic peel, micro-needling and the LED
  • There is no downtime, and it has really broken up my pigmentation and brightened my skin tone. (This is my goal. Wrinkles are fine, it’s the uneven skin tone that annoys me.)
  • It’s not inflammatory like lasers or IPL, which can actually make my pigmentation flare up.

In the final two weeks I had my beloved Omnilux LED lamp (at Duquessa, in Carlton) for a criminal amount of plumpness and glow. I always recommend this to women getting married when they ask, “what should I do with my face?”, because your skin will look heavenly under makeup, IRL and forever and always in the photos. I had four sessions over two weeks, the last one on the day before the Logies.

I have been using Cosmedix Simply Brilliant followed by Go-To Face Hero for super nourishment and antioxidants, followed by  a physical sunscreen in the AM, and SkinMedica Lytera follwed by Face Hero and then Go-To Very Useful Face Cream at night.

Here is my skin with no makeup just before my skin with lots of makeup. All the pigmentation on my forehead and the top of my cheekbones is so light and scattered now. (Clear eyes care of Omnilux. No juice cleanses here.)

*Usually I would have a light AHA peel before two of these lamp sessions, but because there is a lactic peel as part of Dermafrac, I just have a cleanse, the 20 minute lamp then buzz off.

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BODY

I’m currently the Hypoxi ambassador, which means I get to do AS MUCH HYPOXI AS I LIKE. I would be a total dickhead not to use this magical goldpass before an event where I am wearing a fitted dress, so I have been going as often as I can. I use the HDC machine for lymphatic drainage, then the s120 to help fluid retention and tone up. I also walk a lot and do a bit of half-arsed Kayla Itsines at home on the rug while Sonny heckles me about my wussy handweights. (I still have a hip injury, so can’t do the cardio maniac training I used to love.)

I had the delightful Karla from Brown Bodies come to my home to do a St Tropez spray tan two days before the event. This seemed a very convenient option, except that Sonny WAILED LIKE A GODAMN BANSHEE the entire time (scared of the noise? My underwear choice?) and I had to keep popping out of the tent, and running to him and leaping over the baby gate in nothing but my tarty spray tan g-string (I shudder to think of the view poor Karla had) to soothe him without actually touching him, because that would mess up the tan. Not one of my finest moments. The tan was gorgeous, though.

HAIR AND MAKEUP

When I have events or MC duties or photoshoots I call on my cherished hair and makeup sausage, Laura Gilham. She knows what I like, she’s fast and I always book her months in advance so she can do me on Logies day. It calms me knowing she will do something great, and that we will have fun, and that when I say a browny-mauve smoky eye she gets it, and that she knows I NEED a dewy complexion, and matte is the devil and that my length hair is tricky to fingerwave.

I chose fingerwave-esque hair because the dress was so clean and modern in the end, that my slicked down tucked behind the ears look I was going to have was wrong. That look suited a more floaty, romantic dress, but as the dress became more simple, I needed to add some excitement. Hence, the waves.

(This is far too close up. I looked way better from across the room.)

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There is no need to have your “own” hair and makeup artist, of course (but if you go to a lot of events, the convenience of them coming to you can be worth it and it becomes far less wanky than you might imagine) you can shimmy into a salon and get your hair done beautifully, (I recommend Edwards and Co because they excel at naturally glamorous hair) then go to a counter like Chanel, Napoleon, MAC or Bobbi Brown for your makeup. Take references for both hair and makeup so there’s no guess work and no tears. Also a photo of you in your dress so they can see the colour and neckline.

NAILS

I got a $20 manicure using OPI’s So many clowns… so little time. Bubble Bath is too pink on my olive skin, and Samoan Sand can look a little almondy sometimes; this is the perfect sheer, milky-ivory-beige.

TEETH

I mostly just made sure they didn’t get knocked out and were clean.

JUST ON THE DRESS + JEWELS…

I was very lucky to have Mr Magic Gown Steven Khalil (he did my wedding dress, and also a previous Logies get up) make me a frock for the night, and even MORE lucky to have a gown that involved no Hollywood tape, no boning, no corsetry, nothing too clingy, and no cleavage spill. It was comfortable, easy to wear and I felt fucking tip top. This is not normal for such an event. Maybe I’m getting older but I can’t be arsed with severe discomfort in the name of fashion anymore.

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I wore vintage Art Deco jewels from Keshett, which I loved. I went black as a nod to the belt. As usual no clutch because I am likely to get it wrong, so my husband just puts my lipstick and phone in his garter.

Keshett Jewellery

Here is said husband, and the reason I am even at the Logies, the handsome, funny, adorable, Logie-winning, Gap Yearing wildman himself, Mr Hamish ‘The Bachelor’ Blake.

He really is my dream date: fun, hilarious, cute and GREAT at finding me sliders and fries at the after party.

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Responses to this drivel: 27 Comments
05
Dec

Don’t take four serums overseas.

As a beauty editor, frequent flyer and now mother, I wrote a piece for Expedia on the golden rule of travel beauty, which is: take heaps of bubble gum.

No, wait. It’s: keep it simple. Or, pay the price. (Literally. In luggage weight charges.)

Preparation is king.

Travel isn’t the time to be wasting precious minutes on boring stuff like applying mascara, blow-drying hair, fake tanning, manicures and so on. So, do all you can before you leave to make your holidays a, ‘I’m up, let’s go!’ experience, rather than, ‘Just give me half an hour.’ Get eyelash extensions. Have a keratin smoothing treatment put through your hair. Get a spray tan. Get gel polish on your toes and get a nude manicure (no polish or clear) on your fingers so you won’t have chipped, skanky nails a week in. (Natural is the new black anyway.) Waste time on your appearance before you leave, not once you arrive.

Pack everything a week out.

Then, the day before, when you’re adding your daily essentials, (sunscreen, cleanser, foundation etc.) remove 30% of what you packed. You do not need four serums. Nor do you need your hair curler and hair straightener, plus three brushes. Travel provides a wonderful opportunity to do a beauty detox. I’m not asking you to look like a banshee for two weeks, but I am asking you to reconsider how much of your suitcase you are dedicating to stuff you don’t need and won’t use during two weeks in Peru.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE.

DON’T READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE.

Responses to this drivel: 6 Comments
15
Dec

We spend an hour a week worrying about our hair looking shit.

Prowling round the web like a creep today, I found some “stats” on how we birds spend our time in reference to our appearance. They came to light via a survey in which it was revealed women spend an average of 628 hours a year fretting about how they look.

Frustratingly it gave no indication of how much time we spend reading stats resulting from surveys.

Here are some them, and how much time we spend on them weekly:

What to wear – 50 minutes

Whether outfit / clothes then look okay – 1 hour and 32 minutes

Whether my wobbly bits are covered up – 1 hour and 26 minutes

What underwear to wear under an outfit – 39 minutes

Being bloated – 1 hour and 1 minute

Having spots 56 minutes

Uneven skin tone 50 minutes

Tan / lack of a tan – 36 minutes

Frizzy / greasy hair – 57 minutes

Total time spent worrying each week: 12 hours and four minutes

You probably won’t relate or agree with all of these.

I, for example, wear the same fetching silver and purple Lycra one-piece every day which I know looks fantastic, so I certainly don’t spend an hour and half worrying about my outfit each day. But some, like the frizzy/greasy hair, yeah… I get that. I spend FAR too much time on my hair. Each day I wake up and some of the first thoughts in my head are: Is my hair clean? Do I need to wash or style it? If it IS clean and good to go, how much more time in bed looking at Instagram does this permit me?

If it was more obedient and didn’t insist on being attached to my scalp and therefore prone to oiliness, life would certainly be a lot more swift, appearance wise. I probably will never do it again (or WILL I?) but when I had permanent “Japanese” hair straightening ten years ago, and I had wash and go hair, and rain and swim and gym proof hair, life was incredibly sweet. (You can of course mimic this effect without all the growing-outness by having keratin smoothing, and I might actually get that again soon, although it does tend to mess with your colour…)

Anyway. I felt their weekly breakdown was lacking some things:

Eyebrow shape scrutinising –  30 minutes

Spot picking regret – 50 minutes

Blackhead inspecting – 41 minutes

Curiosity regarding overuse of dry shampoo with regards to grey tinge on scalp – 24 minutes

Admiring a freakishly perfect eye liner application – 42 minutes

Fretting over the correct order of beauty products – 34 minutes

Looking at chipped, dry nails and feeling bad about not having time to do them – 18 minutes

Removing eye poo – 9 minutes

Wondering if hairdo is passable as a ‘hairdo’ and not just a scruffy bun/knot thingy – 23 minutes

Taking a stream of selfies because everything looks kind of great, actually – 10 hours and 22 minutes

Have I’ve missed any? By all means, add yours below.

 

 freshbrows

Visual Aid:
The popular “car” or “taxi” selfie, taken in this case sans makeup (unusual for a selfie, unless posted by a supermodel in bed with moody filtering and a sexy piece of hair covering the face with the seemingly innocent caption ‘good morning’) to admire the fresh look a brand new brow shape and tint offers a dame.

 

 

Responses to this drivel: 25 Comments
01
Aug

Making an Effort: Bronzey Lids and Melon Lips

Ugh, I know. There are so many ridiculous “beauty blogger” words in that title.

But! I assure you, this Making an Effort is actually very simple to do.

Making an Effort, by the way, is something I just made up that is not dissimilar to my original fruitybeauty concept of Make an Effort Monday, except this one is way more wild because it might be on a Tuesday or even a Friday. I know! The new fruitybeauty is so outrageous. She probably parks in loading zones. Point is, sometimes we just gotta make an effort. Easy to become lazy and neglect all those delicious eye shadows and lipsticks we own. I do. Gary Pepper Girl would want it this way.

Here’s my MAE look, taken at the prestigious Zoe’s Car Studios. I like metallic eyes with girly pink lips. It balances it out, adds some softness. Bronzed eyelids with red lips are also pretty high up my favourite looks.

Bronzey Lids Melon Lips

 

THE BASE

Apply primer. It will make your skin look great. I used the Tom Ford Illuminating Primer, (fork out the $95 at DJs Elizabeth St and Bourke St) which is fucking incredible, if I may be so vulgar. It’s illuminating and skin-tone-evening, has some sunscreen and makes your skin look like you had a facial yesterday.

I compounded this glow by applying with my fingers the outstanding and much hyped Lancôme Teint Visionnaire liquid foundation, which deserves its own post, and may just get one. It’s designed for mature skin, (code for: will give radiance and glow and fill in lines, hence my favourite kind of foundation) and as such, gives my skin a rude shade of health. If I’m not wearing a lot of colour on eyes and lids I use BB or CC cream, but for this look I wanted a full and even base of foundation.

LancomeTeintVisionnaire


THE EYES

A quick swipe of cream bronzer over the lid, blending out just up and over the crease line, as is customary if I harbour any hope for my eye makeup to stay in place. I used Bobbi Brown Long Wear Cream Shadow in Beach Bronze which is a lovely sheer bronzey colour and terrific for green eyes.

Bobbi Brown Beach BronzeBeccaJacquard

I followed on with Becca’s Eye Colour (Shimmer) in Jacquard, pressing it in lightly with my fluffy shadow brush just up until the crease. Then, black liner along the lash line to define. (I blended a more little shadow over the line so it wasn’t so sharp or obvious.) And then mascara. My regular tubular gear, Clinique Lash Power, probably.

THE BROWS

Filled them in (almost, anyone else see the gap atop my brow?!) Ahhh, what fun) with the Bobbi Brown brow kit, which is to say, a thin, stiff brush, and a brown brow powder. (Eye shadow works perfectly well, too.)

THE CHEEKS

Not too much here. Don’t want to compete. Just a very soft swipe of the wonderfully illuminating St Stropez Bronzing Rocks, currently my favourite and most loved bronzer due to its ability to, well, NOT look like bronzer. It’s not for those who don’t like shimmer, (even though I find it sinks seamlessly into the skin and isn’t so much shimmer as ‘gleam’) but it is for those who don’t like a matte, muddy bronzed look, and who are capable of a light handed touch.

I take it, using a fluffy blush brush, along the top of my cheekbones and around like a boomerang along the top of my brows, and then super lightly blend into my hair line on the right and left sides of my head. I finished with a touch of Benefit Coralista blush on the fleshiest parts of my cheek.

Picture 9903

 

THE LIPS

An oldie but a goodie – Laura Mercier Lip Color in Tangerine Cream. Loved this shade for about a decade now. A gorgeous pinky-melon-coral that brightens the face, whitens the eyes and teeth, and suits A LOT of skin tones. It does! It really does.

lauramercierTangerine

 THE NECKLACE

Since someone with terrific taste in fake jewels is bound to ask, is ZARA.

 

Responses to this drivel: 17 Comments
14
Jun

Some Current Cherished Beauty Products: June 2013

Because why not?

I love them, I am gibbering about them to friends and strangers alike (my taxi driver was VERY rude when I was busy explaining the benefits of a gel blush stain, it was almost like he didn’t care at all) so they must be pretty cherished.

SMASHBOX CAMERA READY CC CREAM SPF 30

I was banging on about this at the Amazing Face Masterclass* Wednesday night. Why I like it, is because like a (good quality) BB cream, it’s far more skin-perfecting and gives more coverage than a tinted moisturiser, which is essentially just a face cream with some tint. You see, a BB or a CC cream works to make sure your skin looks even-toned and perfect (as well as providing some sun protection and priming qualities depending on which you buy), it’s far more cosmetic.

And a CC cream, (stands for colour correcting) works even HARDER to even out and perfect your skin. Which is terrific for someone like me with brown spots/pigmentation… or someone who has redness, or someone with sallowness or even some post-acne scarring, say. It just makes everything look… better. But not like you’re wearing a kilo of makeup.

The coverage from the Smashbox CC is light-medium, and the finish is healthy, but not shiny. The texture is quick thick, and I apply it with my fingers, or a brush so I use only what I need, and get precise coverage.

I use alone on clean skin, unless:

– My skin is thirsty or I am going to be outside for more than 30 minutes, in which case I add daily moisturiser with SPF underneath (The sun protection is actually more than token with this CC! Imagine that.)

– I want more coverage, in which case I blend with some foundation, or add foundation on over the top in certain areas.

Like many BBs and CCs it claims to fade/brighten dark spots over time, but I have my serious skin care for that, I’m more interested in the instant and cosmetic effects.

I was also just sent the new Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream SPF 30 Hydrating Colour Corrector, (let’s just call it “their CC cream”) which is copping some sweet reviews overseas, so I will try that out and let youse guys know on a standard bomb rating, just how much of the bomb it is.

 

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ESTEE LAUDER PURE COLOR CHEEK RUSH IN POSE ROSE

Cheek stains can be terrifying.

BUT, if mastered, can become quite the addiction (cue Benetint/Posietint/Chachatint) due to their lasting power and the way they sink perfectly into the skin, rather than sitting on top of it. Also, they make for a gorgeous flush of colour on the cheeks when dabbed on with ones’ index finger.

Pure Color Cheek Rush in X-Pose Rose

 

Application tends to be where people come unstuck. Best used over liquid products (they can drag and mess up on top of powder) fingers can get real stained, and sometimes leave blend lines. But blush brushes are too dense. I use a synthetic stipling brush for all my creme/gel/liquid cheek products because it is so soft, and so good for quick buffing into the skin.

To be specific, I use the MAC 188 brush:

MAC188brush

And after squirting some of this fun, translucent pinky gel onto my wrist (to be VERY quickly scrubbed off post cheek application), I dab my brush into the gel, then swiftly work the gel into the fleshy part of my cheek, taking it up and back towards my temple for a youthful, uplifting fresh pop of colour that will last until the very last season of Two and a Half Men in 2019. See?

Photo copy

 Like I’ve been out for a play in the leaves. Lovely.

*It was a one off. But it was very successful and fun, so maybe we can do more. I will let a dame know.

Responses to this drivel: 19 Comments