by Kirsty Steer
11.29.09
You can apply hemorrhoid cream to the puffy area of eyes (look for brands that contain yeast and shark’s liver oil). Apparently it’s been used for years! It reduces the swelling out of the “other area” and works the same way for the face.
Go on, I dare you! 
11.27.09
As I work towards becoming a professional make-up artist there are definately lots of concerns that pop up, for example keeping to the best possible levels of hygeine (which at the moment means keeping clean and washing my limited number of brushes very, very well), and I’m certainly not the only one who thinks of these things as the “Hidden Truth. Safe Beauty” Campaign from the “Safe Beauty Association” proves.
The “Safe Beauty Association“is the brain child of Antonia Hawke a “successful, international marketeer, entrepreneur and businesswoman with over 20 years’ experience in management, marketing and advertising for luxury brands and services”. Antonia trained as a professional make-up artist at the respected Jemma Kidd Make Up School in London. “Upon graduating, Antonia made the leap from student to practitioner to experience the trade – behind the scenes. It was this glimpse into the industry that was to inspire the formation of the Safe Beauty Association and its ‘Hidden Truth. Safe Beauty’ Campaign with hygiene at its core.”
“With a strong focus on the makeup artist, Antonia is raising awareness and educating those blissfully unaware or worryingly unconcerned by the risks to clients, models and career, posed by their unhygienic practice and lack of public liability insurance. Having seen the reality of what goes on within the industry, Antonia has found the solutions. ”
This launch of disposable products at www.TheProMakeupShop.com “addresses the need for a reliable supply of hygienic professional-quality, single-use and disposable brushes, applicators and essential hygiene-related tools for the trade. The correct application of makeup through single-use and disposable brushes and applicators together with a high level of personal hygiene, helps prevent cross-contamination and infection, which are a result of bad working habits. Such bad habits, like double-dipping causes the spread of bacteria and viruses – a genuine and serious health threat.”
There’s a large selection of tools such as brushes, mixing palettes and makeup bags, and for the environmentally savvy amongst us there is a small selection of tools using bamboo from sustainable sources. The prices certainly aren’t high and there’s a couple of great kits including the “individual makeover kit” which includes 2 x Voluptuous Veronica disposable mascara wands, 2 x Particular Polly disposable mascara wands, 1 x Double Trouble Trudie dual foam eye shadow applicator/blender, 1 x Shady Sheena dual natural haired and foam eye shadow brush/blender, 1 x Angled Angelina synthetic brush for either concealer or for eyeliner, 2 x Precision Penny short tipped eyeliner applicator, 1 x Pouting Poppy deluxe lip colour brush, 1 x Glossy Gloria deluxe lip gloss applicator, 1 x Blushing Belinda natural haired blush brush, 1 x Highligh Holly natural haired contour and highlight brush and 2 x black plastic spatulas for just £3.99.
A good cause at great prices!
Antonia is now working towards an industry-wide, recognised, accreditation programme and collaborative Code of Practice to raise standards within the make-up industry. Best of luck to her and everyone involved!!
Even if you’re not one for disposables, you should try professional grade disposables before ruling them out and be conscious of your make-up hygiene habits whether you’re a professional working on others or doing your own make-up, as everyone’s health is important, including yours! 
*All excerpts and images are from TheProMakeupShop.com press papers which were kindly sent to me at my request.
11.26.09
Register with www.supersavvyme.com for tips and articles on subjects such as food and style and also FREE offers and samples including cosmetcs such as Olay Total Effects Foundation.
11.26.09
www.cosmeticscentre.uk.com has a link where you can recieve FREE samples from cosmetics brands such as M.A.C, Maybelline, Clinique and Estee Lauder.
You need to be 18 years old or over and have to complete a couple of offers, then you will recieve your free samples through the post.
11.26.09
I was asked to do the make-up for my niece and two of her friends for a small photo shoot. Although I have plenty of make-up theory knowledge,have done a 1-day make-up course, and have some practice under my belt I was a still bit dubious as the course didn’t cover make-up for different ages and I didn’t want to use too much make-up on them but I did need to smooth out their skin. Also, as we’re not settled at the moment (we’re doing some travelling) I have a very limited make-up kit (which I’m attempting to build up slowly but surely!).
One of the girls had never worn make-up before so was apprehensive, the other two wear make-up all the time. Two of the girls were nervous about having their photos taken and the other had no problems ( she’s a dancer and is used to the fuss), so we had a bit of a mixture of girls. I opted for nice pinks and peaches and a little lip gloss, and mascara on two of them, to give shape and definition.
All in all, to start with, it was a bit like pulling teeth trying to keep the nervous girls smiling and stretching my kit to match each girls skin tones and creat three different looks that weren’t “better” than each other, but in no time all three were laughing and posing and much more relaxed thanks to silly games and everyone shouting Blargh! before most photos. As a reward for their great behaviour I let them do my make-up and as it was halloween they went a little crazy…
During the post-prosessing there was still some work to even out their skin, so I’m thinking about using heavier products for future photography sessions and simply making sure they know that they should wash it off particulaly well!
If there’s any make-up artists out there that do photographic make-up I’d love any advice. Which brands do you use? I have some Max Factor foundations which I think seem quite thin and some Leichner foundations that seem quite heavy. Thankyou for any tips you can share!
Photos by Greg Steer Photography
11.22.09
Leichner is world renowned, primarily used in theatres, TV and photography. It can give a great base for cosmetics.
The scent of this foundation put me off a little at first as my skin doesn’t deal well with perfumed products, but I wore it all day and it didn’t seem to have any harmful effects, plus the smell diminished.
You don’t need a lot to create a good smooth finish. My plan with this foundation is to mainly use it when I’m doing make-up for photography as this is it’s original purpose and I think it works well.
If you have dry skin then this may be a good product for you as it is moisturised and doesn’t go flaky like some foundations. The trick with this foundation is definately “less is more” for daily use as too much can be very noticable.
11.20.09
I love the favours, the dresses, the decorations, the atmosphere, everything. A part of me wanting to become a make-up artist is definately about being able to do bridal make-up and joining people on their happy day (even if it is only for an hour or so!). I love all things party-esk. Anything where you need to make an effort. I just think it’s fun (part of the reason I also want to get into face painting )!
Ever since I got married in 2007 my obsession with all things weddingy has got to a rediculous state, so much so that my husband tries to shield my eyes as we walk past wedding stores as I have a habit of starring at all the pretty, pretty dresses long enough for it to become irritating!
So, in honour of this obsession I thought I’d amass a few links to some wedding and party sites for you to peruse or ignore at your leisure.
So, we have
Weddings Direct – A great site with links to wedding businesses all over the UK including car hire, gifts and photography. This site brings everything to one site so that you don’t need to constantly keep going back to search engines .
cheap-wedding-success – A web-site dedicated to helping you get the best value when buying for your wedding and the opportunity to buy a popular ebook with loads of advice.
“Avoid questions that get a one word answer
When you want to expand the offering for the same price, you need be careful how you request it. It’s important to avoid questions that allow the supplier to give you a one word answer, especially if that one word might be “no”.” Click here to view more details
www.chloebeck.co.uk – Filled with lovely ideas for all occassions including lots of themes for wedding favours and even christmas gifts! (I’m buying some of my christmas gifts from here!)
www.amazon.co.uk
www.allaboutpartybags.co.uk Here you can buy pre-filled party/gift bags for children from toddler to teenager. There are bags from just £1.50 including contents and I love this idea (my sister did a similar thing at her wedding) as it keeps the younger children entertained and makes the teenagers feel special with their very own gift. Great for kids birthday party bags too!
11.20.09
First of all, Congratulations to my sister Katrina and her new husband Brian. They were married on 3rd October this year and everything was great…
…especially the bridal parties make-up. By the way, did I mention that I did the make-up for the bridal party??Exciting!!
Katrina agreed to let me do her make-up for her wedding, so when I attended a 1-day make-up course at Glasgow I used Katrina as my model and practiced her special look. I also practiced again during a “practice party” at her house the week before the wedding.
The look was a nice, fresh, simple look with various shades of brown,rosy cheeks and a nice pink lip. I used the same colours for the bridesmaids too (including myself). The foundation was light, the lashes were long, the colours were blended and the lip-gloss was in my bag all day!
Katrina’s Make-up: Brightening corrector under eyes. Foundation to even out skin tone. Powder to set foundation. Light pink over eyelid and up to brow. Dark brown into crease, blended towards brow and out of corner of eye. Spot of white eye shadow to inner corner of eyelid blended aline lashline. Black maascara on top and bottom lashes. Light brown blush along cheek bones. Pop of pink blush on apples of cheeks, blended up along cheek bones. Pale pink lip-gloss on lips.
Simonne’s Make-up: Brightening corrector under eyes. Foundation on forehead, nose and cheeks, blended towards hairline and neck. Powder to set foundation and prevent too much shine. Light pink over eyelid to crease. Darker pink along crease, blended towards lashline and towards brow. Black mascara on top and bottom lashes. Pop of pink blush on apples of cheeks, blended along cheek bones. Pale pink lip-gloss.
My Make-up: Brightening corrector under eyes. Foundation to even out skin tone. Powder to set foundation. Light Pink over lid up to brow. Dark brown along crease, blended out towards temples. Black mascara on top and bottom lashes. Bronzer along cheek bones (been away and still had a bit of a tan ! ). Pink blush on top of bronzer (along cheek bones). Pale pink lip gloss.
Alexandra’s Make-up: Powder to prevent too much shine. Light pink across eyelid to crease. A little black mascara on top lashes (would have prefered to use clear but didn’t have one!). Pink blush lightly brushed along cheek bones. Pale pink lip-gloss.
Mia’s Make-up: Pale pink lip-gloss and pretend blusher (she’s 3 and just needed to be amused during all the pre-wedding stress).
All-in-all I think I did well for my first wedding
Also, I have to mention that I used BeautyUK eyeshadows and was really impressed. They lasted ALL day (a good 10 hours!) and the little set I have has a good mix of 10 compatable colours. Not bad for £3.42 from Superdrug!
Photos by Greg Steer Photography
11.19.09
I was pleasantly suprised by this little palette. It’s a handy size and contains 8 eyeshaows and an applicator.
I bought it when I wanted to have a “practice party” and didn’t have enough colours to do all the looks I wanted to try, so I ran into my local Superdrug and grabbed the first cheap collection I found. In all honesty, I wasn’t expecting too much from it thinking they would just break up and create colourful dust on everyones cheeks (as cheap eyeshadows have done with me before!) but they have really impressed me!
As well as for the practice sessions I’ve been doing, I used this BeautyUK palette for my sisters wedding (on her and 3 bridesmaids) and they lasted all day, from around 10am until we all went to bed around 12:30am. I was able to keep the younger bridesmaids looking fresh and subtle whilst adding a bit more depth to Katrina’s (my sister) and my own looks.
This is really affordable and has a nice selection of colours that compliment each other well. Looking forward to trying other BeautyUK products!
11.18.09
MaxFactor are currently giving away FREE samples of thier Second Skin Foundation. Get yours at :
Choose your own shades and they’ll be sent to you through the post!
