Shiseido Make Up - The Good, The Bad and The Discontinued

I'm big on mascara. It has to make a huge difference to the eyes otherwise, what's the point. I don't do brown or "defining" mascaras. I like to make the eyelashes THE thing that open up your eyes and not the eyeshadow. A lot of times I don't even use eyeshadow on clients, mascara done well can be just enough.

Women, as they age, lose the thickness of lashes, but some might not have had them anyway. Some lashes don't stay up when curled, they drop under the weight of mascara. Some are too sparse. Anyway, the list goes on.

Mascara formulations have advanced over the years, but one product is in my kit and I can't live without it. Shiseido Mascara Base.  It's amazing. And it's been discontinued and they have a new formulation one which is not as good. Why??? 

The "old" mascara base thickens up the lashes, lengthens them, keeps the lashes curled. It's like a miracle hair gel but for eyelashes. And the new one keeps the lashes curled and that's about it. It's supposed to be "nourishing". I mean, really? 

I'm seriously annoyed with Shiseido. This is the second time they are changing the formula of a product which is the staple in an average make up artist's kit. I honestly don't know what planet they live on. And it can't be the sales suffering - I championed the product left, right and centre, pretty much to anyone who would listen. Good products deserve it.

The first amazing product they fiddled with was their Automatic Eye Liner. It was incredible. The brush was so precise, the liner was refillable, the intensity of the pigment was stunning. So what did they do? They made it not refillable anymore, the formulation is now watery and blah. 

The brush is still the same, but you won't get that intensity of the black anymore. They just got average. That was the best liquid liner on the market. I know as I've tried them all. But now it's pretty much the same as the MAC one. Similar watery performance.

I really don't know what's the matter with some brands. And I understand when people get annoyed with discontinued lipstick colours that they'd used for years, although change can sometimes be good.


But a "niche" product that is just fantastic and best on the market? That is just plain stupid. 
They did so well with Tom Pecheaux when he was a creative director. And now I'm not sure.

So ladies and gentlemen, the progress is not always good. I still have some Mascara Base left as I stocked up on time, but once it runs out.... I don't want to think about it. 
I'll guess I'll only use it on "chosen" clients, sorry! A bit like my Dior concealer which also is no longer with us anymore.... 


Do you have any discontinued gems you want to share? Maybe we should start a revolution and get all those products back! Who's with me?

 





 

Backstage Drama, What's It Really Like

....you won't see these on style.com for sure! Happy days of boredom, panic, drama and relief at the same time!

Summer Make up and Colours

Summer, and by that I mean the proper summer with sunshine and not what we are punished with at the moment in UK, is made for bright make up.

There is nothing like some colour against a lightly tanned skin (man made or natural). The light is different and that makes colours stand out.

I gather that a lot of people are scared of brights or at least have little confidence when faced with something not in their comfort zone. But fear not, I have some fool proof suggestions to help you out.

Very bright eyeshadow can be scary, especially when you look at some highly pigmented ones from professional make up ranges that are, well, aimed at professional make up artists. We like well pigmented colours, makes our job easier as we can layer them and make them strong or sheer. But, for a consumer, the super pigmented colours, especially bright eyeshadows, are sometimes not the best idea.

Most of the time you’ll want a slight “wash” of colour. If you’re over the age of 25 and in a “regular” job (by "regular" job I mean not working at MAC or Illamasqua) that’s pretty much what you’ll want. So pick a product from a non-professional make up range for your eyeshadow. 

Bright green, yellow, lavender and blue look surprisingly good on eyes as a subtle colour wash. Apply the colour only on lid, so not to the crease. Cream products work especially well and they are naturally sheerer. And you can have fun and apply the colour with your fingers.

Try a bright eyeliner too. That can look soooo nice, it's simple to do with an eye pencil and you’re still injecting some colour into your look.

Another way to cheer up the summer make up is by using blusher. Especially the cream variety. And try to find a watermelon colour, it’s very flattering to most skins and very summery.

Lipstick is of course the easiest to experiment with. Sheer varieties, semi-glossy tints and stains are they are easier to wear, but my personal favourite is bright orange. It's so much fresher than both red and bright pink. 

Disclaimer: The above advice works especially well for women over a certain age, so please try, you won't be disappointed.

Day Job - More Fashion Photos

The Ingredient Of The Week - MSM (Sulphur)

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I was told to try and make my articles shorter for those of short attention span and busy people who hate sitting and reading with a dictionary… so this is my short attempt to write about a really major mineral that is incredibly important!

MSM (Methylsulfonylmethane) is a naturally occurring nutrient found in normal human diets. MSM is an organic form of sulphur and it forms compounds in body with potassium, selenium, sodium and magnesium. Sulphur compounds are found everywhere in the body where they play an important role in many organs and systems. Many amino acids that build proteins have sulphur in their compounds.

So how can sulphur in topical skincare help?

Well, we already established that sulphur compounds are everywhere, and our body uses MSM to build new cells.

Without proper levels of MSM present, our body is unable to create new healthy cells and this leads to loss of elasticity, wrinkles, dry skin, allergic reactions and scar tissues.  

With ageing the levels decrease… as with everything else by the looks of things.

So it’s only natural to use MSM in our skincare. It’s been proven to help in acne and rosacea, it makes the hair shiny and nails strong. We could also do with a supplement, especially some of us that don’t consume enough eggs, meat and poultry.

Now we come to Oskia skincare that makes MSM one of the key ingredients in their range. It’s quite rare that the entire cosmetics line focuses so much on MSM so of course I got interested.  Usually it will be added in some products, especially ones aimed at acne sufferers or oily hair.

I got across Oskia range when I was googling about sulphur and their website popped up, I got curious and asked to try some products.

As I don’t do reviews I won’t go on how my skin liked it, but as a range I like the no nonsense approach with clearly listed ingredients and no useless fillers or made up actives.

The packaging tells you exactly what the key players are in the product that you’re paying for, which to me goes hand in hand with my philosophy of educating people about the ingredients. Plus I can’t see any parabens in it, so perfect for paraben-phobic and I especially like it as no silicones!

I think the range is definitely worth trying. I could not find anything I would actually omit from my moisturiser if I were to make it (I tried Oskia moisturiser), plus the benefit of MSM, vitamin E and milk peptides make it really good in my eyes.

What do you think?

Some Random Backstage Photos YSL

I've decided to keep posting some photos from some shows that I'd done... Some of them are pretty pics but there's another reason for me to do this.
See, last year my computer's backup died and I didn't recover all the photos. This year my laptop kept having issues so I live in permanent fear that all of my technology is conspiring to delete my files, so I thought I'd back up things all over the place. Hence some pics here. Some of you might even enjoy looking at the photos. Apparently no one "reads" blogs, they all look at the photos.

The Difference Between A Blusher And A Bronzer

I get asked this ALL the time, so forgive me if you're reading something you already know.

As the name suggests, blusher is a product that is trying to emulate the effect of a natural blush that happens to your face after exercise or embarrassment. Pick the more reliable one.

In the same vein here, the bronzer would try to recreate the effect of being sunkissed (don't confuse being sunkissed with being gently roasted and red).

Also the colours tend to be different. Bronzer is usually golden and terracotta, while blusher comes in a variety of shades going from pinks, reds to oranges....

Sounds simple, yeah? I guess most people are good with this until it comes to application. 

Let's start with bronzer then.

A bronzer is applied with a fairly big and fat brush to the areas where the sun would naturally hit your face. So pick a colour that suits your skin tone and apply lightly across the cheeks, on nose, forehead and chin. Please note the keyword "lightly".

Normally you'd find that after bronzer you would need some colour (happens also when you don't use a bronzer) so this where the blusher is useful. You apply it to the fattest part of the cheek when you smile - as long as the fattest part of the cheek is not next to your nose. 
Aim for blusher to start just below where your cheekbones are and not go further down your face than the tip of your nose. You should looks mildly flushed and, usually, better.

To make matters even more confusing, shading and contouring is also back in fashion big time and for that we tend to use bronzers or the "specialist" contouring products, but not the blusher. I tend to use this with my clients on a regular basis because I find it gives the face that nice 3D effect. I'd give a contouring a miss if you don't know what you're doing.

There you go, hope the bronzer/blusher confusion is slightly clearer.