Clinique's New Redness Solutions

Bannish redness for good with Clinique's brand new 'Redness Soloutions', if you find that your skin is easily irritated & can flare up with stress, weather or with cosmetics then 'Urgent Relief Cream' (£24) will sooth & calm redness down almost instantly, great as an after waxing treatment! For persistant redness then 'Daily Relief Cream' (£32) is probably the best option & used regularly fewer flare ups will occur & your skin will have a much more even colour. Both products have received amazing customer feed back so far as well as rave reviews, also available in the range is a 'Redness Solutions Soothing Cleanser' (£15) & a Daily 'Protective Base' (£12.50) a great make-up primer with colour corrective tint - perfect skin all round!

Wedding Day Make-Up - Getting Your Foundation Right.

Bridal make-up should look as natural as possible, don't opt for a look you would not normally go for, you want to look yourself, for example if you're not used to wearing much make-up something quite bold or a high coverage may make you feel uncomfortable.
The best place to start is with the foundation of course & in order to keep it in tact all day long is to apply a primer underneath, this holds the foundation in place by providing a good base on the skin, also for an even & long lasting finish use a foundation brush & sponge (the brush applies the foundation & then the sponge is used to blend).
If you don't want a high coverage go for a tinted moisturiser which will give a very natural effect & will just even out the skin tone.
There are many different foundation types though, liquid foundation generally provides quite a light coverage, the best type to look for is a light matte finish as you want to minimse any shine for your photos. If you require a heavier coverage then cream foundations that have a thicker consistency & are a good option, again a matte finish is best. It's definitely worth experimenting with a few different products, shop around the different cosmetic counters & ask for samples, they'll be happy to provide you with some, then you can try out a few different products without committing to buying any first.
When testing a foundation to see if it's right for you, place a little along your jaw line & blend, don't test on your hand as the skin on your hand will different to that on your face!

Always apply foundation to clean moisturised skin & blend well (pay particular attention over the jaw line & hairline), making sure you have an even coverage. You can apply foundation to only a few areas if required, such as under the eyes, along the
T-zone & cheeks, as long as it is blended well & the colour is a good match then it will give a 'barely there' natural look.
If your worst nightmare occurs & a spot (or two..!) appears, then make sure you have a good concealer in your make-up bag. Concealers with a wax consistency provide a much better coverage than a cream, use a small brush (even a lip brush can
double up for this - providing it's clean!), using small dabbing motions place the concealer on gently until the redness disappears, it is best to apply the concealer after your foundation as if you apply it before hand the foundation can rub it away. Maybe try to apply it around the spot to cover the redness rather than the actual spot itself as some can have a lot of dry skin & can flake or even 'weep'a little.

For under the eyes a light consistency concealer is required, wax will be too heavy & too much coverage under the eyes can crease & accentuate any fine lines, also you should never drag the skin under the eye when applying concealer so gently dab & blend from the inner corners. Try to avoid light reflecting under-eye concealers too as these can reflect the camera flash & cause a 'white ring' effect around the eye area in your photographs. A light cream concealer a shade lighter than your foundation will do, however if you have problems with dark circles use a colour corrector, a little pink corrector concelear mixed with some of your foundation will cover up the dark areas as pink combats grey.
Just as this colour corrector works, if you have a lot of red pigmentation on your cheeks for example, a green corrector will balance this out under your foundation.

All foundation is best set with a little translucent powder, many people prefer not to wear any but a little should always be used just to take away any shine & make the foundation last as well, particularly over the t-zone. The powder should not
change the colour or effect of the foundation though, just give a light natural matte finish which can even work along side a 'dewy' style make-up providing the T-Zone is set.

Brit Glamour!

Well that's all the glitter & parade over for another year - the British Music Industry had their night on the tiles as The Brit Awards were handed out last night!
Take That certainly proved their 'Come Back Kings' status but for me Kylie was definitely the star of the show, with umpteen costume changes, a fantastic performance as well as the 'Best International Female' award she truly is the first lady of pop, not to mention style!! Sporting a funky hair style & as always amazing sparkling eye make-up as well as perfect lipgloss she looked the epitome of cool sophistication, plus I think we all love her new curvier look these days!!

Another few stylish ladies to mention of course, Beth Ditto stood out as always and 'Best British Femail' winner Kate Nash looked ultra cool in her Coral 60's style dress which proved to be a very popular colour this year (including Martine McCutcheons' Lipstick!), however I was a bit upset to see that Kate was criticised for taking a moment to reapply her lipgloss before heading down the runway, I think we can all agree that it is a girl's perogative to touch up her lippy on such an important night out, hardly a cause for accusing her of divadom!!! Leona Lewis gave an amazing performance as expected but despite her hair & make-up looking it's usual fantastic self, I really must insist that she sacks her stylist, her dress looked more like a last minute thrown together mishmash from half a Come Dancing costume mixed with Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen's bed spread!!!!






Girls Allowed missed out on their award of Best Group but looked great as ever on the red carpet, although missing one member, Nadine, sparking more rumours that she wants to leave the band...






All that was left to do after wards was party & with Kylie's Post-Brit bash I'm sure the style & glamour (and champagne consumption!!) continued all the way into the wee small hours, with many sore heads awakening this morning..!!

GET THE LATEST CELEBRITY STYLE!


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Quintessential Brushes!

Try out this great 'Quintessential' Brush Set (£20) from Jemma Kidd Make-Up School, it is a collection of her favourite brushes for Eyes, Blush & bronze.
The Cheek Brush has a flat top which gives a great finish when blending your blusher or bronzer and there are 4 Eye Brushes, one for applying your base colour, another for applying colour to the lower lid, then one for blending colour into your socket line & finally one to define your lash lines that can be used wet or dry. The brushes are made with natural hair & their shape & defintion gives a great finish on your make-up, they even come with tips on how to apply your eye shadow - perfect!!!!

The Basics - Cleansing Benefits

One of the most basic pieces of advice really but you would be surprised at how easily this is ignored, also using a short cut such as 'All in One Wipes' will not throughly cleanse the skin & have the smae benefits as cleansing properly, there is no cheats way out of it I'm afraid!!!

Here are a few reasons to make sure you keep up your regular cleansing routine -

1 - To remove any grime and make-up worn throughout the day that can clog the pores.
2 - At night cleansing & moisturising properly will help to protect the skin from loosing moisture, during the day it helps to provide a good base for make-up.
3 - Helps the skin to re-new itself by removing dead skin cells & keeps the over all tone soft & supple.
4 - Lastly a little scary fact, going to bed even just 1 night without taking your make-up off will age your skin by 11 days!!!

Cleansing Tips -

Face Wash
Start with a good foaming face wash for your skin type to take the initial residue away & freshen the skin. If you have dry or sensitive skin then a gentle moisturising wash is best, oily/problem skins are best to opt for an invigorating wash with perhaps a light exfoliation in it that can be used everyday. There are many types of face wash on the market so take time to choose one that is aimed at your skin type.


Eye Make-Up Remover
Before cleansing make sure your eye make-up is removed, a soothing gel based lotion is good for this, however if you use heavy eye make-up or waterproof mascara an oily based product would be best.



Cleansers
Use cotton pads for this as they are the best for removing grime (same with eye make-up removal & toner), place a good amount on the pad & take across the whole face, for best results do this twice, it really does make a huge difference to your skin & will help prevent spots.
- Dry Skins should opt for a creamy cleanser that won't strip the skin & can help to add moisture
- Oily Skins should look for a gel based cleanser
- Sensitive Skins should go for a soothing cleanser with perhaps Aloe Vera or Green Tea.

Toning
Toning is pretty much an optional step but still beneficial & worth doing, it mainly removes any residue from your cleanser but some do have active ingredients such as anti-oxidants that are great for the skin.

Moisturising
Every skin type will benefits from a moisturiser, even the most oily skins, they work by creating a barrier between the skin and the environment as well as keeping the skin hydrated.

Again there is a wide range available these days for every skin type so depending on what you are looking for, whether it be anti-ageing, to include sun protection, for sensitive skin, to reduce oily appearance on the skin, there is a moisturiser for every type, so take your time to pick the one that you feel is right for you.
Also it is worth while investing in an eye-cream, the skin around the eye is a lot more delicate & your normal moisturiser won't be suitable, these can help protect this area & reduce puffiness as well as dark circles that none of us want!!!

Exfoliation
Lastly, try to ensure you exfoliate once or twice a week, this will help the skin to shed any dead skin cells from the surface layer brightening the skin & keeping it in great working order!!!

This Weeks Top Product! - Neutrogena Face Wash

I have tried many many face washes in my time but this one is by far the best 'Neutrogena Visibly Clear 2 in 1 Wash & Mask - £3.79', I have been using it now for 2 years & to be honest I don't know how I managed without it before!! Great for all skin types really but particularly if you're prone to the odd blemish (or 2 or 3 or 4!!!!) & have the dreaded oily t-zone! It gives a great daily cleanse, helps prevent nasty spot outbreaks as well as reducing the appearance of blackheads, generally it's gives you much clearer & brighter skin. The best bit is once a week you can use it as a mask for 5 mins to give your skin a deep cleanse, what more could you want from a face wash!!!

Lash Fabulous!!!!

Get this great new mascara from Rimmel (Volume Flash Mouse Mascara), gives amazing volume without the clogging that this type of mascara can give & has a light mouse texture keeping your lashes feeling flexible & light, so no spider-legs!! It has received rave reviews already & is certainly the favourite new addition to my make-up bag!! As always it has a friendly price tag but does the hard work like any of the best brand names priced over double the ££'s!!