Costhetics loves covering the latest news and information from the wide, wonderful world of aesthetic enhancement.
There are so many new technical advancements and scientific innovations to keep up with, it makes our collective heads spin … in a good way.
Today, however, Costhetics is having a throwback day. We’re going to tell you about magic tricks cosmetics pros have been using for years. You can too. The great part is you can improve your appearance using nothing more than the cosmetic products you already have in your bathroom. You’re going to be amazed.
Plump Lips without Injections
If the idea of plump lips appeals to you, but the thought of getting lip injections does not, your make-up kit has the answer. With a little concealer or highlighter, you can add dimension visually where volume has been lost. Apply your lipstick, set, and blot. Then apply three or four small dots of concealer at the centre of each lip. Blend it in with a stiff brush, making sure to keep the concealer towards the centre.
Make Your Own Lip Tints and Colours
Nothing is more frustrating than trying to find just the right lipstick to match your ensemble. If your look isn’t in sync with the fashion industry’s current colour palette, you’re likely to be out of luck. Adding insult to injury, lipsticks aren’t cheap, and it can get expensive trying and throwing away shades that are unflattering. Why not make your own?!
To make lipstick from scratch, mix clear lip balm with powder blush or eye shadow. Adding more blush will deepen the pigment. Adding less will make the lipstick look more like a tinted balm. If the colour you mixed is too dark, add a little more of the clear balm.
Foundation: Creamy, Not Cake-y After 50
Cake and powder foundation are terrific for youthful faces combatting excess natural oils. Older, dryer skin needs something different: moisture. An easy way to accomplish that is to become your own cosmetic mixologist. You can add moisturiser to your favourite cream foundation. Not only does this provide good coverage of wrinkles and hyperpigmentation, it also looks more natural, fitting in with the no make-up trend.
Costhetics’ Word to the Wise of Any Age: With or without make-up, your skin needs sun protection. You should always treat your skin to a good SPF moisturiser, regardless of whether you are wearing other cosmetics.
Colour Forecast Over 50 – Yellow
Make-up artists stress the value of knowing the concept of undertone when it comes to cosmetics. The idea is to determine which tone best accents your skin, your eyes, or even the jewellery you like to wear. Which tone is right for you? If you’re over 50, a slightly yellow undertone is your friend. Yellow is a warm, rather than cool tone, and one that is associated with a more youthful complexion.
Save Time and Your Skin by Multi-Masking
Your face is a landscape of nooks, crannies, pores, and wrinkles that need specialised care to look its best. This can be tough to accomplish, as mask ingredients that are useful for treating one area of the face, may not be appropriate for another. For example, clay masks unclog pores magnificently. Gel masks are useful for calming irritated cheek skin. Ingredients such as rose essence can balance skin on the forehead.
You can spend hours at the aesthetician’s or at home, cycling through a variety of mask treatments each week or you can try applying different masks to different parts of your face at the same time. Be careful not to overlap masks.
Be Oil-Free for Free
Steamy summer weather plays havoc with skin, creating a shiny t-zone at the centre of the face. You can pack your purse with tissues, but tissues tend to lift away make-up along with oil. They also leave lint behind. What’s a girl to do? Believe it or not, toilet seat covers are a perfect alternative. Readily available, they are thinner than facial tissue, and grab the oil without disturbing make-up. Another readily available option can be found in the brown, recycled paper napkins offered at many coffee chains.
Staying Power for Your Perfume
Costhetics is head-over-heels for fragrances. From summery florals to autumnal spices, we love the way a whiff of scent can instantly change your mood. For most of us, however, that mood-changing power wears off quickly, even when you are wearing a costly, well-made product. There’s a fix for that: pulse points.
You are probably already applying your perfume to the pulse points behind your ears and on your wrists. This works because pulse points are hot spots on the body and the heat helps that scent get into the air. What you may not know is that you also have pulse points behind your elbows, behind your knees, your back, and even on your belly button! These pulse points are not as active as the ones on your wrists and behind the ears, so the fragrance will be released more slowly.
Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, One is Just Not Good at All
If you’re like several of the women on Team Costhetics, you apply your make-up in the bathroom each morning after cleansing your skin. Unfortunately, bathroom illumination is often provided by harsh fluorescent light. This can turn your skin sallow and throw shadows where there are none, causing you to apply your cosmetics on problems that don’t exist. Investing in a self-lighted make-up mirror is a good solution.
Costhetics Pro Tip: The mirror in your bathroom is likely not the only mirror in your realm. Check your make-up in different rooms before you go out and give yourself a once-over in your rear-view mirror if you’re on a drive. This will give you an opportunity to catch any mistakes you may have made during application.
Remove Make-Up Martha Stewart Style
You can damage your skin, pull out eyebrows and lashes, and cause facial wrinkles when scrubbing off foundation, mascara, eye shadow, and the rest. Or you can be gentle and use a top celebrity’s favourite method for removing make-up at the end of the day: baby oil. Typically made with gentle, vegetable-based ingredients like avocado oil and jojoba oils, gentle baby oil is strong enough to remove make-up with just a cotton ball. It is also gentle enough to be good for sensitive skin.
“I always have [it] in my medicine cabinet,” she said in Martha Stewart Spills Beauty Secrets. “At night, I wash my face really well, because I have to have my make-up done a lot,” explains Martha. [Baby oil] with a warm washcloth is one great way to take it off. I like oil because it keeps my skin very moist, and it works for me. I don’t get clogged pores.”
Luxurious Lashes that are Yours, Not Falsies
False eyelashes and eyelash extensions have their advocates, but we have a cosmetician’s secret you may not have heard about. With a clean mascara wand, you can bulk them up a bit. Just a little bit will do. Then apply two coats of mascara as you normally would, being careful to wiggle your wand to separate the lashes.
Perfect Match: Lipstick and Lipstick Blush
Powder blushes can be problematic. They puddle in wrinkles and make your skin look dry and aged. It can also be a challenge to find a blush that is a good match for your lipstick. If that’s a problem you’ve encountered, it’s time you learnt how to make your own lipstick cream blush. In addition to using a lipstick you already have to get the perfect colour match, lipstick blush frequently stays in place longer than a powder blush.
To make your lipstick blush, put a very small dot on the centre of each cheek. Experiment with your blush brush, pulling the cream and softening the colour. Or you can try one of these lipstick cream blush recipes.
Get More Tips from the Pros
If you’d like to know more tips, tricks, and strategies for looking your best, Costhetics suggests that you ask an expert. Trained in both the arts and sciences of beauty, aesthetic professionals can guide you to in-office treatments, take-home treatments, OTC products, and even DIY solutions for whatever is ailing your skin. We invite you to let us find a doctor near you so you can begin your journey.