An Editor’s Bag

Rebecca Caratti, Style Editor

 

Sigourney Cantelo, Beauty & Health Director

 

Christine Centenera, Senior Fashion Editor

 

Edwina McCann, Editor-in-Chief

 

Zara Wong, Online Producer

 

Genevra Leek, Fashion Features Editor

via Vogue Australia

 

Lip Balm Foursome

From left to right: Dr. Lipp Original Nipple Balm for Lips, Mini Organics Original Nipple Balm, By Terry Or de Rose and Kiehl’s Lip Balm #1.

Yes, that is nipple balm. Think about it.

Making Up Anna Karenina

via Makeup 411

Skincare

• Applebox Cosmetics Cream Cleanser
• CHANEL Hydra Beauty Crème Hydration Protection Radiance

Foundation

• CHANEL Vitalumière Moisture-Rich Radiance Fluid Makeup SPF 15 in Clair and Cendré, mixed.

Concealer

• Giorgio Armani High Precision Retouch in Ivory and Light Sand, mixed.

Powder

• Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder

Blush

• CHANEL Blush Horizon de Chanel
• CHANEL Rouge Coco Shine Hydrating Sheer Lipshine in Liberté

Eye Shadow

• CHANEL Le Crayon Khôl Intense Eye Pencil in Ambre, smudged and applied as eye shadow.

Brows

• Extended with real human hair

Mascara

• Talika Lipocils Expert

Lips

• CHANEL Le Crayon Lèvres Precision Lip Definer in Rose Corail and Pretty Pink
• CHANEL Rouge Coco Hydrating Creme Lip Colour in Venise

Highlights / Countour

• CHANEL Le Blanc De Chanel Sheer Illuminating Base as the final veil over the whole make-up to give it luminosity and to create a ‘final skin’ to marry all the shapes created on the face into one luminous, seemingly make-up-free skin.

Invest For the Best

 

Photo by Rui Faria via the Guardian

 

Investment tools are often pricey by comparison to the multitude of crap one can stock up on so remembering the mantra ‘quality over quantity‘ will do you a world of good here.  Finding a tool that actually delivers on what it is meant to do is, well, priceless (whether purchased with a Mastercard or not).

All killer no filler list:

Rubis tweezers, $28.22, beautybay.com
You won’t know how different tweezing can be until you own these.

Cloud Nine O Rollers, from $29.99 to $399, cloudninehair.com
Miraculous results and extremely easy to use.

Vogetti Pro Wonder Brush, £5.50, amazinghair.co.uk
Looks like a scrubbing brush, but is the best backcombing tool ever. 

Shiseido eyelash curler, $31.50, feelunique.com
Japanese eyelash curlers are the best (see also Shu Uemura). These give lasting curl with no pinching and bending.

Parlux Compact Hairdryer, $140, folica.com
It’s only when you try a Parlux that you realize how bad most dryers are. 

Clarisonic Skin Cleansing System, from $119, sephora.com
The original and the best: this sonic cleansing brush could transform problem skin.

 

Kate Beckinsale in Total Recall

via Makeup411

Photo: Michael Gibson

Make-up by Margot Boccia

 

Skincare:  Dr Sebagh Rose de Vie
Foundation:  M.A.C. Mineralize Foundation in NC30
Concealer:  Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat in Light Peach
Powder:  Tarte Smooth Operator Micronized Clay Finishing Powder
Bronzer:  Clé de Peau Beauté Cheek Color Duo in 5
Blush:  Benefit Bella Bamba
Eye Shadow:  Yves Saint Laurent Ombres 5 Lumieres in Garden of Eden and Clé de Peau Beauté Eye Color Quad in 13
Eye Liner:  Make Up For Ever Aqua Creamliner in Black
Brows:  Clé de Peau Beauté Eyebrow and Eyeliner Compact in 2
Mascara:  Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Mascara in Steel Black
Lips:  Tarte LipSurgence lip luster in Glisten
Highlights / Contour:  Benefit Girl Meets Pearl

Dita von Yes Please

 

The Queen of Burlesque’s own beauty must-haves and beauty tricks gathered from her Twitter account.

Face

• L’oreal True Match in N1 (which is also Cher’s favorite)
• Dior Capture Totale Foundation in Light Beige
• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light
• Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder for under the eyes

Skincare advice: “See a dermatologist for problem skin rather than spend money on miracle creams!”

Eyes

• MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack (applied with a fine brush)
• Guerlain Liquid Eyeliner
• MAC Liquidlast Liners

Lips

• MAC Lipstick in Ruby Woo
• MAC Lipstick in Lady Danger
• MAC Lipstick in Russian Red
• NARS Lipgloss in Daredevil
• Tom Ford Smoke Red
• Tom Ford Cherry Crush
• Tom Ford True Coral
• Guerlain KissKiss Lipstick in Exces De Rouge 523
• Dior Diorific in Rouge Bingo
• Face Stockholm Matte Lipstick in Claret
• MAC Lipliner in Beet

Hair

• Garnier 100% Color Intense in Blue Black

Nails

• MAC Rougemarie
• Essie Fishnet Stockings
• Leighton Denny Passion

 

 

What Courtney Cox Can’t Live Without

Clairol Natural Instincts Brass-Free For Brunettes in C5 - $5.75 

Retro Make-up

Ten Steps to Retro

1. Start Blissful!  If you don’t already have a daily skin care routine, now is the time to start!  Every great work of art needs a proper canvas.

2. Flawless skin! Inspired by old Hollywood movie stars, even outskin tone with MAC Studio Fix Fluid. 

3. Let Secrets be Secrets.  Laura Mercier’s Secret Camouflage for under eyes and little “problems”… for extra umpth use the light side as a highlighter on the top of cheek bones, brow bones, down the bridge of the nose and center of the chin for some photo-perfect contouring. 

4. Power Puff.  Finish out the contouring by using MAC Blot Powder (“Dark” seen in photo) on cheek bones, creases of eyes, down the sides of the nose and under the jaw line. 

5. Apple Cheeks!  Right in the apple of the cheeks this blush will add a nice healthy pop of red, NARS Powder Blush in Exhibit A.

6. The Framery.  Eyebrows frame the face, just look at Hepburn or Bacall, so give them the Hollywood shape with Laura Mercier Eyebrow Pencil!

7. All about Eyes.  Keep it simple, Le Métier de Beauté in Sugar all over and Tamarack in the crease and at the lash line.  For night time add an extra application of Tamarack for very hooded eyes.

8. Play ‘em up.  Mascara, mascara, mascara… I love mascara!  Apply as many coats as needed of MAC False Lashes mascara which makes big glossy lashes that don’t smudge around the eyes yet washes off at night easily. 

9. Flirty Eyes.  This is where it gets good.  It doesn’t take much, just 5 to 7 flares per eye to fill it in but it makes all the difference especially in photographs!   

Step by Step:

1. Squeeze a TINY drop of Duo Eyelash adhesive (Use dark tone and Duo as it does not damage your natural lashes and washes off easily).
2. Using tweezers pull 1 flare and lightly dip the base end in the glue. 
3. With the tweezers holding the flared end set them on top of your eye lashes as close to the base as possible but not on the eyelid. 
4. Repeat as much as you like! 
5. Let dry for 5mins or so then apply a final layer of mascara, gently pinch the false lashes to your real ones to give a seamless illusion. 
6. Bat those babies all night.

10. Paint it RED.  What is a retro diva without red lips?!  All time classic combo.  Start on the outside of lips with Cargo Reverse Lip Liner (Use “light”), draw the shape and fill in the lips lightly with MAC Lip Liner in SPICE, then top it off for show with MAC lipstick in LADY DANGER.  

Et VOILA!

Natural Self Tanner

via Born to be Blonde

An all natural self tanner that you can make yourself and even ingest?  Uhm, yes!

Required time: 30-40 minutes Skill level: Goof-proof

Ingredients

• 4 black tea bags
• 2 cups boiling water
• Sponge or spray bottle

Optional: Body lotion Pure cocoa powder

How To

• When water has boiled, add the tea bags to steep. Leave in for 10-15 minutes, or until tea is dark and cool enough to touch.
• In the meantime, take a shower to ensure your skin is oil-and sweat-free. Afterwards, make sure skin is completely dry.
• Stand on something you don’t mind getting dirty. If using a sponge, drench it in the tea and wipe all over your body. If using a spray bottle, fill it with tea and spray evenly.
• Let skin air-dry and apply another coat for a deeper shade.

*Notes:  Tea will stain clothes if wet, so make sure you’re all dry before dressing. The “tan” should last 3-4 days.

For bonus color, mix cocoa powder into body lotion until you reach desired color and apply for an all-over bronzing boost.

BB Creams

In many parts of the world a tan is still considered the hallmark of beauty.  From indoor tanning to bronzers and self-tanners, anything for that golden glow year round. But half a world away, where celebrities prize porcelain skin, a secret weapon in cosmetic bags called BB cream has been doing the opposite for quite some time—making skin whiter.  And legions of fans have bought into it. Will we?

A combination of tinted moisturizer, sunscreen, blemish healer and skin whitener, the name “BB cream” is short for blemish balm or beauty balm, depending on the marketing spin. BB cream was first brought to Asian markets in 1985, almost 20 years after German dermatologist Christine Schrammek introduced the first blemish balm, but it didn’t became a runaway bestseller until the early 2000s. A craze was born. 

Korean actresses attribute their flawless skin to BB creams but can all different skin complexions and types benefit the same way?  The whitener is more important in the Asian market, where having white porcelain skin is synonymous with beauty and success (for better or worse) but in North America women are more concerned with anti-aging and sunscreen.   

Estée Lauder’s Daywear BB Multi-Perfecting Beauty Benefit Cream SPF 35 hit Canadian stores in January, in two shades.  Montreal-based Marcelle is bringing the first Canadian-made BB cream to market in early February.  Garnier’s Skin Renew Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream SPF 15 will also be out in February, while Clinique’s Age Defense BB Cream SPF 30 launched in the U.S.A. in August and will debut three shades in Canada sometime this spring.  

Are these just a gimmick if they do not provide the original healing properties of the BB cream?  

There are several authentic BB cream brands such as HANSKIN, Skin79, Skinfood, BRTC, Missha and Dr Jart.  There are slight differences in properties, ingredients, smell, texture and oil control depending on the brand and each brand has different shades of coverage depending on your skin tone.

General (authentic) BB Cream characteristics

• Natural glow without makeup
• Provides perfect coverage without clogging pores or damaging the skin
• Conceals all types of pigmentation, discoloration, acne and acne scars
• Healing properties soften, smooth and refine skin
• Encourages skin regeneration to create and maintain youthful skin
• UV Protection for healthy skin
• Some BB creams have additional features such as wrinkle improvement, whitening, etc.

How to choose a BB cream

1. Identify your skin tone (very fair, fair, olive, dark?) and skin type (normal, sensitive, dry, oily, combination?)
2. Now, ask yourself what your needs are:  acne reduction, brightening, sunscreen, oil control, extra coverage?
3. Shortlist or select the most suitable/ideal BB cream for yourself. 

Recommendations

Oily Skin + Acne

• Dr Jart Silver Label 
• Hanskin Control Skin 
• Skin79 Absolute Total

Combination Skin

• Missha M Perfect Cover 
• Missha Vita BB Cream 
• Hanskin Caviar Gold 
• Hanskin Super Magic
• Skin79 Diamond Prestige 
• Skin79 Hotpink 
• Skin79 Super Plus 

Dry Skin

• Dr Jart Dew Drop 
• Dr Jart Black Label 
• Hanskin Caviar Gold - Hanskin Magic
• Hanskin Watery
• Missha Watery 
• Skin79 Oriental Gold Plus

Problem/Sensitive skin (acne prone & acne scars)

• Dr Jart Black Label
• Dr Jart Silver Label 
• Missha M BB Cream 
• Hanskin Magic (white) 
• Hanskin Caviar Gold

Problem/Mature skin (acne, scars, winkles, large pores)

• Dr Jart Silver Label 
• Hanskin Control Skin 
• Missha M Perfect Cover
• Skin79 Dream Girl 

Dull/yellowish skin

• Hanskin Glossy Magic
• Skin79 Crystal Pearl

There are two online stores that seem to sell authentic BB creams Cosme-De and Sasa. If you’d prefer to try the North American versions Elle UK has some reviews here.

If you’d like to try and find authentic BB creams on eBay, check out this post first on what to look for in order to distinguish between  real vs. faux.