Look for gray pencil to match brows, hair
Dear Answer Angel Ellen:
I have been looking for light gray eyeliner or brow pencil to no avail. I have had no luck finding it anywhere or anything near this color.
The companies I have looked into are missing the boat not having this color, since so many women are going natural and do not want their eyebrows entering a room before the rest of their bodies. Please help.
— Dolores S.
Lots more women are embracing their gray hair, that’s for sure. And younger women are adopting gray as the color of choice when they are looking for a change from their natural shade. How convenient for those who are tired of the trouble and expense of monthly root touch-ups.
Today, the hair-pigmentchallenged of every age can flaunt their grays, comfortable that they’re the height of hair fashion. That said, I’m not ready to go there, since I think gray hair can add years to a woman’s look, and more years aren’t on my shopping list. (I know many of you disagree, and I’m quick to acknowledge that some women who’ve gone white or gray have never looked more beautiful.)
Moving on to the eyeliner/pencil. I love your image of the eyebrows entering the room before the rest of you. It’s not easy to find gray pencils in stores. NYX makes a gray for under $9 that I found on Amazon. Modecosmetics .com has a light gray for under $10. While they’re marketed as eyeliner, a light touch would make them a
Dear Dolores:
good option for brows too.
Wander through Ulta or Sephora cosmetic super stores if there’s one convenient to you, and you’ll find other options as well.
But I need to plug my go-to choice for an eyebrow pencil that is subtle and works well for all shades. It is Maybelline Expert Wear Twin Brow & Eye Pencils (the classic red wooden pencils; $2.99 for two, target.com). The blond ones are getting harder to find in stores, but you can still order them online on amazon.com, maybelline .com and elsewhere.
Dear Answer Angel Ellen:
Is there such a thing as a primer to apply before using a lip liner? I need a little “drag” along the lip lines to keep the lip liner pencil from sliding around as I try to apply it. Such a product would help to draw a more even line, as I don’t have well-defined lips. Any suggestions?
— Christine K.
There are many lip (though not specifically lip line) primers on the market that do exactly what you’re looking for. Sephora’s house brand primer ($12 on sale for $7 when I last checked, sephora.com) is one wellpriced option. e.l.f. has one in a liquid with a wand applicator (for easier application to the lip line only) ($4, elfcosmetics.com). And the premium department
Dear Christine:
store brands have plenty of options for $$$$.
Dear Answer Angel Ellen:
My costly mascara Blinc Tubing Mascara ($26, amazon.com) is the only mascara I’ve used that does not promptly wind up smudged under my eyes. I don’t know whether the problem is my eye-anatomy changing with age, the foundation I wear, etc. I’ve tried every makeup trick I’ve heard of with other mascaras, without luck; I look like a raccoon by noon. Am I the only woman with this problem?
— Sharon F.
You definitely aren’t the only woman with this problem. Hey
Dear Sharon:
readers, let’s help Sharon. Your solutions welcome!
Angelic readers
Many of you are frustrated by tubes and pumps and jars of expensive cosmetics that make it hard (or impossible) to get to the remaining bits — often 20 percent of the contents!
Louise N. advises, “Never buy the pump-style dispensers. They are made to leave product in the bottom. Instead, buy containers that can be inverted when nearly empty, and gravity helps get many more uses out of every one.”
Jill B. cuts her cosmetic tubes into two or three sections and stands the pieces upright in a plastic container then puts a larger container on top to keep the product from drying out.
Irene D. cuts up her tubes, then seals them with black binder clips to prevent drying. “I also use alligator clips on the bottom of toothpaste tubes to get the most out of them. A good trick when you are in a family of middle-of-thetube squeezers,” says Irene.
Judi O. puts the cut tube pieces into a plastic sandwich bag to prevent drying. Says Judi: “I am also known to take a toothpick to a tube of lipstick! Often times there’s a good inch or more of product left. Of course I try not to let anyone see what I’m doing!”
Sylvia R. writes, “I try to avoid lotions that come in spray bottles; these are often impossible to open, and the last layer at the bottom of the bottle is not picked up by the sprayer. So I prefer ordinary screw-top containers or plastic tubes. For the tubes, I cut them off in the middle, turn them upside down, and stick half of the tube on top into the second half. I get every last smidgen out!”
Reader rant
From Linda B.: Responding to reader Suzanne N., who wrote about “insecurities and inferiorities, as relates to fashion choices for women over 50 (40?), inner self-confidence goes a very long way as relates to fashion choices. The thought that someone could judge me as ‘irrelevant’ or ‘derided’? Not in my vocabulary. Nor will those terms ever be.”
Now it’s your turn
Send your questions, rants, tips, favorite finds — on style, shopping, makeup, fashion and beauty — to answerangelellen@gmail .com. Ellen Warren is a freelance writer.