Sunday, June 19, 2011

Ace of Base

I am obsessed with good foundation and have spent many years & countless hours trying to get it right. Luckily, I now have 2 clever friends who are in the know & my go-to advisers – stylist, photographer and makeup artist Owen Allison is currently Estee Lauder’s National Makeup artist, and Fox is a freelance makeup artist who has worked with MAC and Estee Lauder, and has also been spotted at the Playboy Mansion. Here are their top tips.
Owen works his magic on gorgeous Antonia
TO BEGIN
Owen:
* Make sure you have a great moisturizer and exfoliate twice a week. Moisturize with a hydrating and protective day cream e.g Estee Lauder’s Time Zone.
* If your nose is prone to oiliness during the day, avoid adding moisture in this area as we want the aura of the face to glow only.
* The dewy look is most flattering. Skin looks brighter and dewier with the dead skin cells sloughed off.
Owen Allison
Fox:
* Never skimp on the basics. Always cleanse, tone/soften and moisturize day and night. Nothing will age your skin faster than not removing daily grime and/or makeup.
* Base can often smooth and fill in fine lines plus gives better longevity. Most prestige brands have a product available that will work in harmony with their other products. Ask your favourite artist at your preferred counter.
COLOUR
Owen:
* Get a professional to match your skin tone. You will be a cool, warm or neutral tone, and they can also advise on the coverage intensity to suit your skin type
* Update your foundation each season - skins change from Summer to Winter. You can also custom mix foundations to suit.
Fox:
* The colour of your skin may change through the seasons, depending on lifestyle and weather. I recommend you get two foundations, one darker (for Summery months) & one lighter (the Winter months) and combine to suit. Always check with your artist and make sure you get them to apply it for you while at the counter - they have valuable tricks and tips for application, and it's great to get some one on one face time to quiz them.
* Every brand has different terminology for warm & cool, yellow base or pink base. Don't let marketing and terminology confuse you. Always ask the professionals if you are unsure about what anything means.
* Go to a counter to wear and feel first. Different products can feel different on your skin.
Fox, Owen and I are huge advocates of Estee Lauder's Double Wear foundation - as the original ads said, it will stay on in jungle terrain! It is great for work, when you need stickability in muggy weather, or after an all-night dance party or Atlantic travel. I have oily skin so I need something that will stay put all day at work. Now new Double Wear Light is out, for a slightly more sheer finish than the original. It also stays on all day! I also love MAC's Studio Fix for good stickability and for a cheaper option, L’Oreal True Match is good, and goes out quite easily. For a great exfoliant, I like Dermalogica's Daily Micofoliant and Antipodes Facial Exfoliator.

Owen Allison
APPLICATION
Owen:
* Brushes work better for blending. Sponges soak up too much product.
* Apply foundation from the middle of the face then, outward. Often only the nose, chin and forehead need foundation.
* If you feel you need more coverage, stick to more sheer foundations and use a concealer for areas that need extra cover (like scars, sun-spots etc). This avoids looking too mask-like. Avoid opaque, pancake makeup unless you are on TV or on stage - it will age you.
Fox:
* Take your time to get your foundation blended right – don’t just slap makeup on, take an active part in it. Try getting up 5 minutes earlier in the mornings to take the time to get it right. Take time to get it right and it will last all day with minimal touch-ups - only powder where you need it.
* Apply only where you need it. Remember that faces are not flat - we all have great curves and angles. BLEND BLEND BLEND!
* Do not use your fingers to apply a whole face, usually we have just moisturized with our fingers and with oily digits - this has a tendency to just smear the foundation right off. Use a brush to work the foundation into the skin. You need a good base - if foundation isn't right everything else will look average.
* Brushes are great as they give you more control and you can feather/press the product and build it and put it where you need it.
* Always check your application in the mirror, especially neck and sides of your face, to make sure you are blended properly. If you have the correct colour and apply only where it's needed, this should never be a problem.
EXTRA TRICKS
Owen:
* Mix a dot of eye cream (e.g. Advanced Night Repair Eye Gel by Estee Lauder) and a concealer (e.g. Double Wear Stay in Place Concealer by Estee Lauder) together and paint out any dark areas of the face paying attention to the inner bridge of the nose and under-eye areas
* A touch of the concealer around the lip area makes your apricot/beige or caramel lip gloss look much clearer.
* Apply a minimal amount of a dewy foundation with a Kabuki style brush (e.g. Resilience Lift Extreme, a radiant lifting make up by Estee Lauder).
Big, fat Kabuki-style brush
* Another great trick here is add a drop of a repair serum (Advanced Night Repair by Estee Lauder) into your liquid foundation and buff this rich glowy formulation into the skin, starting from the nose and blending outwards
Fox:
* You can apply concealer either before or after applying foundation. Applying after can allow you to see where it's needed. Remember there is no right or wrong way to apply.

I worked for Clarins and YSL at Harrods and learned a few wee tricks there. To combat those hungover black bags under the eyes under a night on the tiles in Soho, I cannot recommend Estee Lauder's Smoothing Cream Concealer Disappear and YSL's magic Touche Éclat enough! We sold Touche Éclat hand over fist - one sells every 20 seconds, worldwide! Geri Halliwell used to buy hers from my mate at Harvey Nicks (she used to pop in with Elton John's hubby, David Furnish). I love the new Touche Éclat campaign (above) featuring Ginta Lapina, shot by Terry Richardson. The Disappear gets rid of that grey hue, and Touche Éclat provides brightening to liven up the matte skin. My main tip - Touche Éclat works extra well on top of an eye gel. Disappear lasts forever, it is quite thick so you only need a wee dab. Just be careful and dab around the eyes - the skin is very delicate and paper thin here!
TO FINISH
Owen:
* A good trick to brighten up skin is to buff with a big powder brush after you have applied foundation. There's no need for any powder or product - the brush simply polishes the foundation.
* Apply a touch of your eye cream pressed into any areas of your makeup you want that extra glow such as top of the cheek, middle of the forehead, above the brows - try and avoid too much highlighter on the nose as this can be mistaken for oily skin rather than a dewy look.
* For oily skin, tissue off any excess oil during the day, then lightly add a small amount of powder to the nose, chin and forehead to help absorb any excess oil.
Fox:
* After a light dusting of powder (if required), spritz with MAC Fix to calm and set your skin.
* Stop touching your face during the day. Consciously make the effort to keep your hands off your face!
* Get in touch with the fun of makeup! The whole point of makeup is that it's an evolution - there are no hard and fast rules.
Check out Owen's website here for advertising, editorial, weddings and portrait photography.


Ace your Base


Powder Foundation Brush 3
$42 - saksfifthavenue.com

Estee Lauder Foundation Brush
$32 - nordstrom.com

MAC Fix+
$19 - nordstrom.com

Shiseido Oil-Control Blotting Paper
$18 - bergdorfgoodman.com
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Friday, June 17, 2011

Stone Cold Foxes

Wildfox is one of my fave labels (I have 2 of these Tees). I've long been a fan of their rock chick style butter-soft rock tees, lolly-bright colours & kooky cool prints. LA designers Emily and Kimberley love vintage tees and that cool LA style. Available online or selected pieces locally at Superette Store. From FOAM magazine:

What are some of the inspirations behind your t-shirt designs?
Emily: We pull inspiration from almost everywhere! Movies we love, muses like Marie Antoinette, Native American artwork, 80s color schemes, 90s T.V. shows- what inspires us most are things that make us happy and the cultures and ideas that we think are beautiful.

When you were five-years-old, what did you want to grow up to be?
Emily: I’m pretty sure I wanted to be a Broadway star or a My Little Pony.
Kim: A veterinarian... I love animals.

What type of girl wears Wildfox Couture?
Emily: Girls who love singing along to cheesy pop songs in their car with their friends, who always have a crush, who are free spirits. Girls who put roses in their bedrooms and teepees in their front yards.

I adore this campaign, It's only Rock & Roll but I like it. Same name as a previous Post I did on my love of the Stones and their girlfriends' style. The shoot by Emir Eralp is inspired by Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous", Anita Pallenberg, Elton John, The Rolling Stones & rock gigs through the eys of some hot 70's groupies - quintessential Wildfox girls. And great to see local beauty Zippora Seven from 62Models starring!
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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Tom Ford's Spring/Summer Show

I posted THIS a while back re. Tom Ford's new collection. His covert show at fashion week blindsided the fash-pack and featured a kaleidoscope of glittering “world’s most inspirational women”, including as Lauren Hutton, Natalia Vodianova, Lou Doillon, Amber Valetta, Stella Tennant, Daphne Guinness, Beyonce and Julianne Moore - who didn't know what she was in for until she arrived in New York and was told she was hitting the runway! The guest list was scant and the only photographer present was Terry Richardson.
Here is the video, set to Karen Elson's 'Pretty Babies'. Fabulous.

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Queen B

Loving Beyonce in this fabulous shoot by Sharif Hamza for Dazed & Confused. I love juxtapositions of glam and trash. These amazing couture looks by Tom Ford, Givenchy by Ricardo Tisci, Gareth pugh, Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton and Stefano Pilati for YSL among others set in a trailer park rock. I particularly love the YSL animal print dress with the Big Gulp.
More couture to salivate over - I am still marveling at B's Run the World video.
Featuring horses, courure and hot girls - what more could you want?! I also love the much maligned song....swaggering, stomp-worthy beats.

Beyonce's stylist Ty Hunter has done and amazing job. My favourites are the black fur shrug and dress with gold belt by Zanotti, the green sequined and yellow Pucci dresses - amazing structure! And the gold Gareth Pugh creation with the crazy Starship Enterprise McQueen-esque shoes.
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