BEAUTY NEWS
Missing your hairstylist to the point that you’re on the verge of shaving all your hair off? Are you seconds away from ripping your grown-out Gelish off? Stop – your favourite beauty experts are here to help
DECLUTTER YOUR VANITY
While the world — and life itself — seems a mess right now, your closet doesn’t have to be. Take control of your living space — starting with your vanity — with these easy tips.
1 Clean out the clutter: The clutter here is any expired makeup, empties or any makeup or skincare that you haven’t used in the past three to six months. Separate your products into items to “keep” and items to “trash”. Get rid of any products that have formulas that have split, such as old foundations, dried up or clumpy-like mascara or have a rancid smell. Don’t even try to save them as expired products can carry bacteria which cause skin breakouts and eye infections. Liquid formulas are the most vulnerable to quick expiration followed by creams and then powders as they have less oil and liquid, which bacteria thrive in.
2 Be an expiry reading master: To be 100% sure when your respective products expire, look out for the icon of a tub with an open lid on any product packaging with a number and a capital M next to it, for example: 6M, 24M. This indicates the number of months, from the date of opening, that the brand recommends the product will be at its optimal efficacy. As a rule of thumb, mascaras, liquid and gel eyeliners should be keep for three months, oil-free foundation, lipsticks and lip liners kept up to one year. Cream blushes, eyeshadows and concealers should be in use for 12 to 18 months, 18 months for cream foundations while lip gloss, powder blushes, bronzer and eyeliner pencils should be kept between 18 months and two years.
3 Organise: It’s all well and good to have all your products sorted and knowing what to keep, but what now? Compartmentalise and label. Separate your products into sections, for example: lipsticks, skincare, foundation, palettes, masks or occasions such as Sunday facial, everyday makeup etc. to make everything easy to find.
4 Box and label: If you have clear plastic organiser boxes, use those to pack your items into and still be able to see what’s what. If not — use any old gift boxes as well as their lids to act as trays for smaller, shorter items like lipsticks. Stick some printed labels if you have a label maker or create makeshift paper labels, either printed or written, with a marker pen.
THE 6-STEP STAY-AT-HOME MAKEUP
Whether you’ve got limited time to go from just-woken-up to work-from-home ready or you’re just lounging around, there’s always time to perfect your nowhere-to-go face
1 Prep: Always use a hydrating, priming facial mist to create a glow base and allow foundation to glide easily onto the skin.
2 Skin: Try to keep coverage quite minimal and fresh by using a tinted moisturiser and a skin-matched concealer to cover dark circles and blemishes but still keep coverage lightweight. If you are in need of more coverage, use for a liquid foundation with a luminous matte finish and gradually build coverage. Brighten the eye area by applying a concealer that is 1-2 shades lighter to the under-eye area.
3 Brows: Use a medium dark brown matte eyeshadow or brow powder to fill in brows, instead of a pencil, to create a more natural-looking brow. If you are blessed with fuller brows, rather just brush through a tinted brow gel to neaten.
4 Eyes: Make eyes pop by contouring them with a brown matte shadow applied into the crease with a blending brush and use a brown eye or brow pencil on the lower lash line. If there’s a Zoom meeting on the agenda, add some playful colour using a cobalt blue or burnt orange eyeliner pencil to rim the lashline. This is also a great trick for people who wear glasses as it makes eyes stand out behind frames.
5 Cheeks: Use a cream blush instead of a powder for a more seamless, lit-from-within flush melted into the skin. Blush also prevents skin looking washed out on screen. Tap a cream highlighter on the high planes of the face and eyes to make makeup look emollient and perfectly blended.
6 Lips: Use a balmy matte lipstick, tinted balm or both, in a neutral shade to create the illusion of your natural lip shade, just better.