Bellus Secretus.
“Beauty is a manifestation of secret natural laws, which otherwise would have been hidden from us forever.” -Johan Wolfgang Von Goethe
Times When A Breakdown Is A Good Thing.
I often get asked if it is really necessary to remove all of one’s makeup from the day’s adventures if you are going out for the evening and still wish to wear makeup. To be honest, I don’t feel it is always 100% necessary to remove all of your makeup and cleanse, but if you’ve got the time and energy…go for it! If not, this is when I’d go “the breakdown”. Breakdown the bits of your makeup that are looking a bit battle weary and blot, perhaps powder and reapply. This treatment, of course, doesn’t really extend to mascara as that’s a whole other kettle of fish altogether.
So for everything non-mascara related, just lightly remove or take back by gingerly wiping off with a tissue and or cotton bud. When you’ve done this ever-so-gently, blot your entire face (t-zone especially) with cosmetic blotting paper or film. *whispers* One square of single-ply, super cheap loo paper works fantastically by the way. After you’ve blotted away any excess oil or perspiration that would have naturally managed to creep to the skin’s surface after a day’s wear, just barely powder your entire face (loose or pressed powder is fine). When you’ve finished your ‘barely there’ powder, feel free to reapply your makeup to your beautiful heart’s content.
Carefully breaking down your makeup, blotting, lightly powdering, and reapplying will often give you a nicer looking and longer wearing base for your colour cosmetics than would freshly applied. Go figure? I suspect it has a lot to do with the artful building up of makeup and removing the excess oils, which leave mainly pure pigment behind. (Much like the Beauty Marked! technique for getting your lip to stick.) But don’t be tempted to skip the blot step, because it’s the buildup of oils that actually cause the cakey and flakey thing to happen, which is definitely not the effect we’re after. It’s now, after I’ve done the above, that I adore a quick and ultra indulgent spritz of rose water. Quite frankly, I can’t think of a better and more luxe way to set my makeup. Mmmm.
Now on to the matter of mascara. You know, generally, I am tempted to just leave it alone. I rarely reapply new over old, as that just seems to tempt fate, especially where the potential for clumping and flaking is concerned. But if you reckon there’s only a weensy bit or no bit on, then by all means reapply. Just be extra vigilant for clumps and ensure the lashes stay separated. You can carefully re-curl your lashes with a non clamp-style curler if you’ve got one. If not…use your finger to gently press the lashes towards your lid and hold for about 30 seconds or so before the mascara is dry. Sometimes the finger trick works so well that I often wonder why I bother searching for my curler in the first place, which, oddly enough, always seems to grow legs…especially when I’m in a rush.
So there you have it: Times when a breakdown might just be a good thing. Ultimately though, the most important thing of all to remember is to blot and don’t stress…because you’re beautiful!
World AIDS Day.
“Take the Lead: Stop AIDS. Keep the promise.”
Not Long Now.
I have quite a few bits and bobs from the gorgeous M.A.C. METAL-X Collection which is due to get all the Alchemists in a lather come Monday December 3rd, 2007. But I could not, to save my soul, actually bring myself to swipe the products in order to sample them. Oh the shame. They were just too darn pretty to touch. *hangs head*
But then, not quite out of the blue, I was able to summon up a bit of courage and give this beautiful collection a spin. I suspect my new found courage had a lot to do with that fact that my darling and ever so cheeky 4 year old daughter asked with the most perfectly straight (albeit angelic) face, with two METAL-X shadows already in hand, if she could use them on her dolls seeing that they were just sitting there! Eek! It was then…that I knew it had to be now, by me or what’s that expression… “If you’re slow, you’ll blow”? Yep. That’s it. So, I took a few deep breaths and planted the brush on the divine cream to powder shadow and applied. Oh.My.Goodness! *then faints* Luckily for me, as I have not yet regained command of speech/type post faint, the M.A.C. brief is 100% spot on:
M.A.C. METAL-X. A simple trace elevated to the richest most opulent extreme found in the creamy, colour-rich METAL-X Cream Shadow. An amalgam of pigment, shine, and dimension that through its intensity forges an unforgettable mélange.
To be perfectly honest, nothing more needs to be said, except for a big “sorry” for being such a big baby and not cracking these beauties open a lot sooner. METAL-X is just pure unadulterated alchemistic magic!
METAL-X Cream Shadow
Virgin Silver White with silver pearl
Pure Ore Metallic green gold
Goldspice Metallic coppery gold
Fusion Gold Light pinky beige with gold pearl
Pink Ingot Mid-toned blue pink with gold pearl
Metalblu Navy blue with silvery pearl
Cyber Metallic silver with silver pearl
6th Sin Forest green with silver pearl
Plum Electric Deep purple with red pearl
Glitter Eye Liner
Blitzed Yellow gold with multicolour glitter
Wonderwhite Silvery white with multicolour glitter
Enbronze Deep brown with multicolour glitter
Pewterpink Blue purple with multicolour glitter
Lime Dandy Mid-tone yellow green with green glitter
*METAL-X Collection is available on December 3rd, 2007 from all M.A.C. locations and online.
What A Lovely Email.
I just had to share…
Dear Beauty Marked!,
I just wanted to say how much I appreciate all of the different type of beauty stuff you have in your blog and online magazine, Beauty Marked!. I haven’t actually ever read anything that has such a variety of different things in it as does your stuff. I especially love the inspirational things you liberally mix across your writing. It’s such a breath of fresh air and very inspiring. I especially like how you make it okay for me to like myself. This alone, is definitely something you don’t read anywhere else. You also don’t prey on everyone’s insecurities which is perhaps what I love the most about Beauty Marked!. Thank you! Please keep up the great work.
*blush* Thank you so much for your generous and encouraging words. I can’t even begin to tell you how much they mean to me. I absolutely love what I do and can’t imagine ever not being able to write or talk about the beauty that moves and inspires me so. Prior to creating Beauty Marked!, I too felt there was a need for there to be a dedicated safe space or arena for everyone to lovingly explore and express their own infinite beauty. It is because of my commitment to creating and maintaining this safe space, that not only inspires, but hopefully calls us all into action to be the magnificent individuals that we are, that Beauty Marked! was born. That’s why you shouldn’t find any trash talk or those “looks you love to hate” here, because it is my wish to only truly be of service by encouraging absolutely everyone (who’ll hold still long enough) to experience how beautiful they (already) are. It’s all about going forth and spreading beauty and light, if you ask me. If you like, you can consider that a Beauty Marked! promise. *wink*
All the very best…as always!
-BM! xx
Pure Genius!
“Beauty is a form of genius- is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the greatest facts in the world: like sunlight, or Springtime, or the reflection in dark water of that silver shell we call the moon.” -Oscar Wilde
What’s With All The Fruit?
I just had to squeeze in a post about this current fruit-filled frenzy going on in skincare these days. Well, I’m please to let you know that there is, indeed, a method to this fruit-a-licious madness. Here’s an ever-so-brief bite of info about a few of the gorgeous fruity bits finding their way into our skincare:
Apple Trés soothing on the skin and is chockers with tartaric and malic acids which gently exfoliate.
Grapes Also very soothing on the skin and act as a mild toning astringent.
Cantaloupe/Rockmelon Most excellent for hydrating and soothing inflamed and agitated skin.
Lemon Contains a bumper amount of citric acid that counteracts an overly basic skin PH that is often a result of product buildup and endeavors to clarify skin that has fallen prey to the excess alkalinity. The citric acid in lemons also acts as an anti-bacterial and astringent agent. It can also be mildly bleaching over extended period and in larger undiluted quantities.
Papaya/Paw paw Contains the active enzyme papain which is incredibly effective at dissolving keratin and can be used to rid the skin surface of expired skin cells especially when used in combination with other known exfoliators. Papaya is also soothing to angry skins.
Pineapple Bromelain is the effective exfoliating enzyme in this fruit which also rids skin of expired epidermal cells and can dissolve keratin over time.
Passionfruit Very refreshing to the skin and can be mildly hydrating.
Strawberry A scrummy smelling fruit that is ever so mildly bleaching thus has a slight brightening effect on the skin when used over an extended time and is wonderfully soothing and toning.
Tomato A mildly astringent fruit, thus its toning abilities are effective on oilier skins.
Mother Nature sure is one clever chook!
