Ask the Makeup Doctor

Really?

Well, hi!

Even I didn't think that some crisis could last well over two years. 

Guess what?  I was wrong.

Anyway, since this site has long been neglected, I am in the process of a site revamp.

Look for it in a couple of months!

 

 

Eyebrows - Window Dressing to the Soul

We've all heard that eyes are windows to the soul.  So, I've decided that eyebrows are the window dressing to the eyes that are windows to the soul.  And as such -- attention must be paid.

I was very lucky in my younger years -- eyebrow wise, though I certainly didn't think so at the time!  They were dark, thick, and course and I had to pluck those suckers every damned day -- sometimes twice a day.  It seemed the minute I looked away more eyebrow hair appeared to form a unibrow to join my hazel eyes together.

Eyebrow Pencils, Mascara and Powder, Oh My!    

I never had to use an eyebrow pencil, much less any sort of special brown eyebrow powder to fill in sparse eyebrows. Nope -- not my problem.  When I was little, and my mom would get ready to go out, she'd always have her trusty Maybelline brow pencil in hand and filled in her blonde eyebrows prior to leaving.  She may not have worn any other makeup -- but those eyebrows were ALWAYS filled in.

The other day, I was grudgingly getting ready to go out, and I pulled out my makeup.  I gave myself a cursory glance as I half-heartedly decided what eyeliner I should wear, when I suddenly noticed my eyebrows -- as if for the first time.  Can it be?  Were they looking dull?  Were they looking not only dull, but a bit sparser (no-way!) and even a little gray?

I couldn't believe this was happening to me!  (Doesn't this sound really dramatic, like it should be about the crash of 1929 or something?)  I grabbed something I don't think I've ever used in my lifetime.  An eyebrow pencil. And, I also grabbed something I've used since 1997, but had seriously slacked off in the past few years -- eyebrow mascara.

Oh, It IS Me!!!!!!!!

After adding these two useful (and always used by my clients because I insist) items, I suddenly looked like me again.  Dark brown full and lush eyebrows. 

Ladies -- we are a changin', but we can certainly help ourselves along.  Doing my eyebrows really made a difference.  After all my makeup was on, I looked like me (to me) again and that is the best feeling of all.  If all it takes is a little makeup to make yourself feel like you again, I'm all for it!  And there is nothing easier than adding a little color to make all the difference. 

Don't leave out those "little" things because they are too small to make a difference.

Trust me -- they aren't little, and I LOVED the difference -- because it made me feel like I really hadn't changed that much (looks wise) and I felt the same way I used to feel.

So, dust off those window dressings -- you'll love feeling like you again -- even if only in your eyebrows!  I'll take feeling like me again wherever I can find it!  (And yes -- I did pluck those gray/white ones and got rid of them.)

I used YSL's Eyebrow Pencil in #2.  Great color, and I like the spoolie at the opposite end for grooming.  YSL is available at most high end department stores.  I bought mine at Nordstrom.

I used Paula's Choice Brow/Hair Tint in Sable.  She has other color options as well.  Paula's Choice is available online at http://www.paulaschoice.com.  

 

 

Makeup and Maturing

Makeup and the Mature

I wasn't sure how to name this particular entry - but I KNEW that "Makeup and Getting Older" didn't particularly thrill me!

Ah yes - the maturing process.  Ain't it great?  Looking in the mirror and suddenly, your mother's face is looking back at you.  I'm not saying this is a BAD thing  (mom)- but it sure as hell is a shocker, isn't it?  Anyone over a "certain age" has felt that jolt to their system!

A very good friend of mine - actually a friend from our freshman year in high school - was out buying lipstick, something she rarely does.  She picked up her good old reliable Revlon lipstick and when she put it on - it looked....different.  The color was definitely not the same.  She even checked the bottom of the lipstick a few times (with a magnifying glass...you know the drill) to make sure that she had picked out the right color.

Yes - it was definitely the right color.  But it was different somehow.  She called me and indignantly said that Revlon had changed the color of the lipstick that she had worn for years, and remembered so well.  Because my curiosity was raised, I too went to the drugstore and purchased the lipstick.  It looked the same to me. 

Then it hit me.  The lipstick hadn't changed, WE had changed.  We committed age.  And that particular shade no longer worked for my friend the way it had for the last 30 years or so.  (Told you we were older...I mean, mature!)

Changing

It never occured to me and my other friends, that along with all the other "fun" changes like - perimenopause, gray hair, chin hair springing out of nowhere...but only when you are driving and checking the mirror and seeing the long gray hair that you never, ever saw and having to pluck it right then and there) that our makeup would turn against us.   Makeup was always our friend and ally!   Et tu, makeup?

Foundations that were once perfect - now make us look cakey and shows lines that we never knew we had.  Colors that were so awesome in our "before time" are suddenly different - too dark, too light, just in general, WRONG.

Of course, first we must be in denial for  bit, and definitely put the blame on the cosmetics companies - and then reality sets in.  It isn't them - it's us.

It's time to change...yet again. (And of course, to express our wrath at men, who as they age - simply look distinguished.  I call unfair!)

Don't despair.  It happens to all of us.  Some sooner - some later, but it'll happen.

This is when you go back to square one, and start trying on different makeup - different lines, different textures and different colors.  It helps to go to a makeup artist (you know - kind of like me!) to have them help you along. 

Try some different makeup lines - some are more mature friendly than others.  Hey!  Maybe those counters won't be playing that awful loud music!  (Dern kids, git off my lawn!)

Playing with Color

Look at your colors - get a color makeover.   Read some new beauty books on "mature beauty". 

You have to change your makeup along with your clothing style - and essentially, kind of start from scratch.

If a new beginning of maturity means looking and trying new makeup, I am all for it.

If you want some help or ideas, give me a shout out.  We can do this together.  It'll be...fun?  Yeah, that's the ticket!  I love helping ladies start from scratch.  A fresh new look from a fresh new person...okay, I'm not SO fresh, but fresher.

Makeup ALWAYS makes everything better. (Well - makeup AND chocolate!)

Remember - makeup always washes off...the older thing...not so much.