the redhead beauty ed

My new ‘go-to for fast glamour & smouldering smoky eyes! Just love this new Chanel Illusiond’Ombre eyeshadow in Apparition – a beautiful mousse-like yet long-wear metallic midnight blue shadow for lids or as liner. It also comes with fine angled brush that allows you to shape and define your eyes so effortlessly – and I should know! I have a phobia of wearing too much dark smoky eyed makeup the further I to my 40s I go – as I hardly want to draw attention to my fine eye lines do I? Do you? Yet this – because it’s a mousse in texture – goes on super sheer like a fine layer on your skin and then just builds and defines as you blend in a little more at a time. Truly foolproof!

One Word of Caution….Do tighten up the lid after use wont you? Oxygen + exquisite light-weight airy mousse = waste of money!

Ah Beautiful Sofia Vergara, 41 (Modern Family) – once told as a young actress to have a breast reduction if she wanted to ‘get on’ in Hollywood – has become quite a voice in America to get their thyroid tested (recent figures claim 45% of women in America already have a thyroid problem diagnosed – though many haven’t been tested.)

“It’s just a blood test” says Vergara on Dr Oz this morning in America, “it’s not as if you have to have anything cut out!”

But, as I myself know, having had hypothyroidism for 10 years since having my third child (which slows your metabolism, while hyperthyroidism speeds it up too fast) it is something that, as women, has symptoms that we can all too often just ignore or put down to ‘life’ – especially after childbirth: weight gain, tiredness, irritability, constipation, sensitive to the cold and brittle hair, skin and nails.

So – if you have 3 or more of these symptoms, simply go to your doctor and get a blood test to check it out. And in my experience diet can help you find more balance too, helping to prevent further links to other diseases.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bigger Brows Are Back!

Perfect shaped brows are the ultimate frame for your face, so it’s good to draw attention to them and detail your brows more as you age, as hair and skin tone fade with age too. I should know – I have hardly any grey hairs on my head, but an unbelievable number of white brow hairs!

And take heed when plucking too. Those of us who plucked to infinity during the 70′s, 80′s, and even a bit of the 90′s – when brows went from uber thin, to invisible, to bleached and then bold black ‘Letraset’ transfer brows (think BodyMap) in the name of fashion – can vouch that brows are precious commodities in beauty, and once plucked to obscurity, are jolly hard to get back.

The most fashionable way to wear your brows right now? Natural, fuller and more flattering to frame to your eyes.

“Brows are the new contour of the face,” says Terry Barber, Director of Make-up Artistry at MAC “they totally affect its shape.”

WHAT WORKS FOR YOU “The secret is to brush, brush, brush the brows,” says Dina Catchpole. “This helps to emphasize brow hairs so the brow doesn’t look too flat.” Foolproof application? Brush hairs downwards so you can see the shape of your brow clearly, stroke in a pale colour to create the shape, then add a darker pencil to give the illusion of more hairs. Finally, seal in place with a gel.

My favourite Brow enhancers?

MAC Brow Pencil is an all-time favourite among make-up artists: like a powder pencil that blends perfectly and in great shades.

Maybelline Brow Grooming a great new pencil that’s a terrific value at £2.99

New CID Brow Pencil that’s angled for easy definition

MAC Browset, a clear gel with a spiral brush to help groom hairs into place

“MAC Browset to me is like backcombing – it creates volume in the brow yet gives a beautiful sheen.” Terry Barber

Without doubt the very best matt contouring bronzer you’ll find this summer – I was recently in Paris with four other beauty editors and one by one we all professed to wearing this very bronzer that same morning! Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder

Coincidence? Nah! Racking up over 100 years of experience between us all (yes we’re each all over 40) – we each vowed we loved both the powder “matt yet soft” “perfect for contouring and bronzing” AND the brush “perfectly shaped” “contours the cheekbones” and “rare to find one that actually does the job”.

 

 

Clockwise from bottom left: Clinique Chubby Eyeshadow Pencil in Lavish Lilac; Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs Long-Lasting Eyeshadow in Attrape-Coeur; Bourjois So Laque! Ultra Shine Nail Polish in Purple Fiction; Clarins Wet & Dry Eye Quartet Mineral Palette

Make-up artists universally agree – lilac is one of the prettiest make-up colours to wear, regardless of your skin tone. From brunette to blonde, redhead to grey, the trick is to bear in mind the warmth of your skin and match the lilac or purple tones to suit. So if you’re skin is pale, choose a subtle wash of true lilac with cool undertones that match your skin; but if your skin is golden, olive or darker go for more purply tones to complement a warmer skin.

TRY THE TREND: For a flash of lilac, try using an eyeshadow as a liner close to the lashes and damp the brush so it goes on more like a liquid liner but dries as a powder. Try the new Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs Long-Lasting Eyeshadow in Attrape-Coeur; or Clarins Wet & Dry Eye Quartet Mineral Palette. Alternatively the new Clinique Chubby Eyeshadow Pencil in Lavish Lilacan easy-wear creamy pencil to stroke along the lash line and smudge into place with your fingertip. (Follow with a good double layer of mascara)