JOANNE watkinson
TIME TO GET WINTER READY
ANYONE else noticed the clever ad campaigns being broadcast lately, inspired by the bananas situation we find ourselves living in? I am a sucker for a good advert. I may be one of the very few people who takes notice of bus stop ads.
My favourite of the moment has to be the one for breath mints with the tag line “mask your mask breath”. It tickles me every time, it makes light of what’s essentially a very depressing, and not to mention, divisive situation.
Television advertisements have now caught up to the present day and are all centred on our “new normal”– are family orientated and focused on products and services for use at home.
During lockdown Holly Willoughby shared her box dye hair tips with her seven million Instagram followers, (which is why Garnier pay her the big bucks). Searches for DIY hair dye kits saw a huge surge, and even though salons are open again, many cash-strapped consumers are sticking to the home beauty treatments forced upon us in lockdown. If you didn’t buy a Gua Sha tool (look them up) this year, where have you been?
So, while we have little use for lipstick (lippy and face coverings are a bad combination, if you know you know), the incoming cold weather means we will inevitably be reaching for a thicker moisturiser, it’s what the beauty experts call getting “winter ready”. And after what has felt like an eternal summer season, it’s officially time to do the same for your wardrobe.
This winter, more than ever before, is making me want to make like my tortoise and hibernate until spring, but in the absence of that option, I’m digging out my sports socks, hoodies, leggings and trench coat, while track pants will be a mainstay. My winter look is part teenage boy – with comfort, warmth and ease of dressing a priority – punctuated with street style tricks that make me look less like a bag lady; beanies in various colours are a must, clever layering features heavily, a blazer over a hoodie looks surprisingly smart, and a good cross body bag pulls it all together. Add a face mask and I’m feeling winter ready ...no mask breath to worry about here.
WHILE some people have taken the opportunity to ditch the lippie and forgo foundation during the pandemic, Pixie Lott says doing her make-up in the mornings has helped her get focused and ready for the day ahead.
“The days where I wake up and shower and I do my make-up, I find the day so much more productive and I get more things done for some reason,” the 29-year-old pop star says. As for her beauty look, The Voice Kids judge and former Strictly contestant likes to keep it fairly simple, with just a few key, quality products to create a luminous base and subtly defined eyes.
Want to get that pop star glow? These are Pixie’s make-up favourites...
“My favourite foundation is the Vitalumiere by Chanel because it’s so glowy. I love the glowy vibe.”
“For under the eye area, I do love YSL Touche Eclat but I don’t actually have that at the moment, I’m using Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter. It’s got a really nice wand and feels really nice under the eye.”
“For contouring, I use the creamy bronzer from Chanel. I love that, because even if you do it wrong you can just blend it in, it sinks right into the skin. Then I also use that as an eye shadow. It basically contours the eyes, I put it on my lids and underneath, so that doubles up.”
“My favourite mascara is MAC In Extreme Dimension, it’s really good for impact.”
“I love the MAC brow gel. All I do is just brush my brows up, I don’t really put anything in them, I just brush them up.”
“I finish with lip liner and lip gloss. The lip liner I use is Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat. This one is Pink Venus, but I do like Pillow Talk as well.”