Beauty, hair tips plus other useful stuff!
 With less than 4 days to go until “close contact services”, clothes shopping and al fresco dining we are excited to be finally meeting our 2021 brides for their much anticipated bridal makeup and hair trials.
We’ve Spring cleaned our premises as well as every single makeup product and brush owned making sure it’s been sanitised as well as still in date to avoid our clients getting skin rashes/breakouts/eye infections and styes! If your boatrace hasn’t seen a cosmetic product since the first lockdown then your makeup bag might be calling out for a spring clean, that includes the bag itself! Once emptied, pop it in the wash to get rid of all bacteria or hand wash with fairy liquid and sanitise with antibacterial wipes and spray. If it’s still looking a bit worse for wear then it’s time to hit the shops for a new one! 1. Liquid Foundations and Liquid Highlighters - Bin after 12 - 18 months Firstly how does it smell? Not all foundations have a fragrance but if yours is starting to smell a bit rank, chances are it is! Has the formula separated or the colour changed? Oils tend to rise to the top of foundation after time and with continued use, pores can clog and potentially acne can form. You might find foundation won’t blend like it used to or can oxidise and start to look the wrong shade once applied. 2. Powder Blushers, Foundations and bronzers - Bin after 36 months Good news powder formulas tend to last the longest. In fact it’s one of the hardest products to determine whether it’s still in date or not. If you discover a hard film or a funny looking shine on the surface or the texture looks cracked you’ll probably find it’s not performing as well as it once did with the pigment being less noticeable once applied. We use a lot of loose powders in our kit which can easily be decanted. If using a compact we use a quick drying sanitising spray between in between clients. 3. Brushes - Bin as soon as the bristles fall out! These should feel soft and look fluffy. If some of the bristles are stuck together a good rinse over the sink with a shampoo or washing up liquid should do the trick, laid flat to dry naturally. If the bristles are sparse or feel spiky when you touch them on your skin then it’s time to ditch and replace! We wash and sanitise our brushes after each wedding or prom. A new set of brushes is always used for each client. So if you have 6 people in your wedding party, we will use up to 6 clean brushes on each and every person so that’s up to 36 brushes a wedding! Each client has their own labelled pot of brushes so if touch ups are needed later on we know which brushes are theirs for the morning. 4. Lipsticks and Lipglosses - Bin after 18 - 24 months Good news most lippies contain preservatives so it’s harder to grow bacteria. However, if you discover a coldsore you should always scrape a very thin top layer off the top of the lipstick before you use it next. You’ll never see us use lipstick from the bullet. We always use a spatula to scrape off the top layer and apply with a lipstick brush followed by a quick spritz of sanitiser before the next client. For lipgloss we always use a disposable applicator and there’s no double dipping either! 5. Mascara - Bin after 3 - 6 months Mascara has one of the shortest shelf lives unfortunately. You can easily tell once maraca has gone off as it won’t smell right anymore. Mascara contains water, any cosmetic product containing water can breed bacteria. Bacteria near your eye can equal a nasty stye. We use a new disposable mascara wand for each time we dip - and that means we go through a a shed load of mascara wands (as well as mascara!) each wedding season. So there you have it! If you need to refresh your makeup bag we can offer 1 to 1 advice and help you to restock your makeup bag with the fabulous Mii Cosmetics from Gerrard International.
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Today I read an interesting blog about sleeping with your makeup on, something we are prone to doing after a good night out (or lazy night in!)
https://www.wellandgood.com/good-looks/sleeping-with-makeup-on/amp/ Magic Mike Diana Saxby Celebrant looking camera ready Yesterday I was excited to reunite with two of my former colleagues (and friends) Michael Batten
and Diana Saxby who I first had the pleasure of working with in a local legal firm 20 years ago now. Although I'd not seen Mike in years I'd been following him in the virtual world for some time and was really impressed by the professional head shot photos he'd been showcasing on his social media pages. When Diana mentioned to me over coffee that she'd like to update her picture for her own website I was quick to recommend Mike and arranged an appointment for the three of us to meet (I'd been booked as the professional makeup artist, however reluctantly ended up agreeing to have my head shot done at the same time). Diana absolutely hates having her photo taken and I'm definitely not a natural in front of the camera and am always critical of any photos of myself and am always quick to de-tag! Little did Mike know he really had his work cut out for him that morning. A quick re-read of Mike's LinkedIn profile reassured me that he'd be able to put us both at ease and achieve that perfect picture. I was completely intrigued on what Mike's magic would be. Was he going to rock up with aromatherapy oils and a massage table? Did he have some sort of hypnotherapy trick hidden up his sleeve? Was he going to bring with him a cute puppy to distract us from our nerves? Well, what I can tell you is, he arrived on time, smiley and professionally equipped with his mobile studio. After professionally applying Diana's makeup using products with little or no SPF (as this is picked up by the camera flash and can cause what's called "flash back" meaning that the model looks as if their face is 10 times whiter than the rest of their body), I also made sure I used mostly matte products to avoid shine. As Diana has mature skin, much like many of the mother of the brides I makeover, it's always nice to add a little shimmer in the right places to give a more youthful glow. A quick change of outfits (as we learned that solid colour works best and to avoid busy patterns) we were now nearly ready to shoot! We had a short coaching session on how to stand tall (believe me this sounds a lot easier said than done unless you've ever practiced pilates or ballet, then this will come in handy). We were taught how to hold our necks, our arms and some other really useful tricks including how to pull our faces. There is definitely an art to all of this. I had no idea that one of my eyes squints more than the other when I smile so I was given some useful tips on how to balance this out. So within an hour and a half we were both done! I'd definitely highly recommend Mike to anyone that needs a new profile picture for their business, company website or even a professional picture for an engagement announcement. I would be more than happy to assist as the professional makeup artist and stylist too. I'm looking forward to seeing our images soon where we will be able to pick out the best one to be edited and use as our corporate head shot. |
AuthorOlga Taylor - Archives
April 2021
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