Whilst sitting with my freshly painted talons and my face immersed in detoxifying face mask on Sunday evening I got comfy and started reading the September issue of Allure (aka my favourite magazine- a US bible for beauty lovers, beautifully put together with a slither of fashion thrown in for good measure) I came across an article on the first makeover in 1936 of a 21 year old nurse who wanted more out of life so thought the quickest and surest way to achieving that would be to make herself more beautiful. The article chronicled Mademoiselle magazine’s makeovers, where they took a seemingly ugly duckling and transformed them into a swan. The article got me thinking about how today women are more beauty and looks conscious than ever, in a day and age where reality tv ‘celebrities’ dictate what’s acceptable, and if anyone has watched TOWIE, they’ll know that three pairs of false eyelashes, hair extensions, plastic surgery (including butt implants, I kid you not) and hair extensions are de rigeur. You can scoff at me and say that it’s purely for entertainment and that actual women don’t really do all of the above, but I challenge you to find a group of 18-25 year old girls who doesn’t have at least one of the following characterstics: fake tan, hair extensions, acrylic nails, lip fillers etc.
So all of this started me thinking about the modern day make under, just a few products and tools can make you look beautiful without losing the true essence of you. Eyelash curlers for example, instead of false lashes can give the Parisienne allure without being detectable, curled lashes wake up the eyes and instantly add drama to facial features- when I was 11 and before I was allowed to wear makeup I would press my lashes upwards after I had a shower to give a curled lash effect. Similarly, you don’t need twenty layers of heavy foundation, just one light weight one will do and then target the specific problem areas with a corrective and durable concealer. I by no means have flawless skin, I’ve struggled with a blemish prone complexion that has had bouts of pigmentation since the age of 14- however I prefer a lighter texture of tinted moisturiser or foundation as I’ve found that a more natural approach; albeit potentially showing off a little ‘real’ skin, is preferable to a mask of cake like makeup.
Eyebrows play an equally important role in your facial features, and the last few years have taken us on a bit of a brow related emotional rollercoaster. First we were lead to believe that scousebrow was actually acceptable in normal society and now we’re all being told to get the ‘Cara’ look. Brows should flatter individual face shapes so your best bet is to go somewhere were they can shape them perfectly for you, I highly recommend Blink Brow Bar where prices may be a little high, but you know you’re getting your money’s worth when you emerge with beautifully shaped brows that offset the rest of your features to perfection. To add a little more dimension to freshly threaded brows, I like adding a tiny bit of colour, HD Brows to beautiful palettes that you can mix and match to find your perfect shade, suitable to your brows without going OTT.
Nails are constantly changing with the introduction of wraps/stick ons/acrylics/shellac- the list is ongoing. The surest way to chic nails is to cut them relatively short, file them yourself into a squoval shape (that’s half square half oval for manicure novices out there) and paint on a flattering nude shade. You can’t go wrong or off trend with a classic, clean nude manicure. There are of course some parts that are harder to makeover, or in this case ‘makeunder’ but for those of you who by no means want to head to Harley Street, may I recommend these absolutely genius videos by Charlotte Tilbury where she shows you how to get the most out of your features using clever makeup tricks without the trip to a plastic surgeon- I particularly love how the ‘how to get perfect fuller lips’ tutorial.
A bit of a different kind of post from me today- let me know your thoughts in the comments or tweet me @tijanserena
Txx