Beauty Tips for Gray Hair

BEAUTY TIP OF THE MOMENT:
STAY UP TO DATE WITH MAKEUP WHEN YOU GO GRAY

They Call it Mellow Sallow

Quite wrongly. Sallow is a skintone shade you don’t want to be when your hair turns silver. There are tips on the site and in the book for counteracting sallow, and they have to do with adjusting the makeup colors you use. But what if you could adjust your skintone? Enter the world of toners. You’ll find them in three shades: green to counteract too much red in your skin; a blush or apricot shade to offset discoloration; and lavender. You know what that does from color theory. Lavender blocks yellow.

I chose the “Balance” primer from Smashbox. Yes, the lavender one. And, while my skintone did not turn lavender at all (the product is much too sheer), I was hoping the little blue molecules in it would do their trick. Besides, it is a great primer. Oil-free, and with soothing botanicals in it like aloe, it makes the skin feel good. And it allows makeup to glide on effortlessly, for much better coverage. Sheerer coverage.

Next, a foundation change was in order.  There’s no point to de-yellowing your skin if you’re going to wear the same yellow-based foundation. I had to search far and wide for anything with a hint of pink in it. Most foundations today are yellow-based. Has to do with population shifts, and the predominance of women with yellow-based skin tones. Finally found one. It’s Givenchy’s Photo’Perfexion Fluid Foundation, in a shade called Perfect Petal. Petal as in ever-so-slightly pink. And, wonder of wonders, it went perfectly with my skintone! Maybe it was the primer, maybe it was the fact that skin does become thinner and more transparent with age. In any case, I was no longer a yellow-based lady. Did I mention, this foundation is very sheer on the skin, too? It actually smoothes the complexion and leaves it flexible, well-moisturized and optically-brightened. Yes indeed, I was feeling very pink and pretty.

Here’s the point: never be afraid to experiment if your skintone seems to be changing. Take the bull by the horns and go out there and do something about it. Don’t lock yourself into the Princess Summer-Fall-Winter-Spring syndrome, especially when your hair color is changing. There’s a whole world of color out there!

Fall’s Fab Face

We’re getting a jump on Fall ‘10 with this preview captured at the Donna Karan show. Lots of smoky gray eyes abound, but this particular face has “the look.” One, the model’s hair does look gray (not), and two, love the wide headband trick. Notice it’s brought forward, a perfect root cover. But what’s really going on here is a very soft look. Hardly any blush, a pale “canvas” of a face, and a softer smoky eye. Very light shades of gray, no eyeliner, no smudging along the bottom lid, and very little mascara. What takes full focus are the lips. Bright red and beautifully glossed. If you’ve shied away from bright red lips before, try it for Fall—it’s great with all shades of gray in wardrobe and hair. But keep the rest of your face very minimal. And don’t forget the glow!

Oceanize your Eyes

Since mixing blues is the hottest summer color story out there (Fashion Finds, Have A Spring Fling with Color), there’s no reason at all why you can’t do the same color play on your eyes. The blues are more luscious than ever this year, and mixing a bold cobalt with teal and aqua is a cool summer move. So say bye-bye to winter’s smoky eye and lighten up! While you’re at it, there are some fabulous pool colors for your nails, too. Like Sally Hanson’s Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Lime Lights, or Sephora’s holographic Sephora by OPI shade of Mermaid to Order.

The strategy is simple – don’t overdo! No sweeping stripes of color on your lids. Do a very thin line of teal eyeliner (Urban Decay’s liquid liner in Minx) just along your upper lid. Now, grab that flat-line brush, and dip it into a deep blue powder shadow (L’Oréal’s HIP High Intensity Pigment Bright Shadow Duo in Showy), and dot it along your lower lash line. That done, take a slanted brush and just point it – once – at the very end of your upper eyelid. For this, pick a summery aqua shade like Sephora’s Pearl Chlorophyll Green No. 03 or Maybelline’s Expert Eyes Eye Shadow in Emerald. Another day, you might want to use Wet n Wild’s Mega Liner Liquid Eyeliner in 863 (a clear aqua) or a deep cobalt blue to line your top lids (Urban Decay’s Liquid Liner in Radium is delicious) with teal as your powder shadow accent shade.

Done. You’ve mixed your blues and someone is sure to tell you your eyes look like limpid pools!

The Drawer

What lurks in your Beauty Drawer? There’s a good chance there’s danger there, especially if you haven’t cleaned it out in years. Recently, we’ve had talk about eye and skin allergies in the chats, and while you may indeed have allergies to some common ingredients formulated into cosmetics, you may also be suffering from old-stuff-syndrome. Time for a beauty drawer purge! If you can’t remember exactly when you bought something – pitch it. If a product has changed color or smells “off” – out it goes.

If a film forms over a powder, eyeshadow or powdered foundation, don’t try to resuscitate it by scratching the surface. Pitch it. If a foundation liquid has separated into a layer of oil above a layer of pigment, out! Shaking it won’t solve the problem completely, because it will not adhere as well to the skin, will streak, and may cause blemishes. A foundation will only last about 2 years, and less if it separates.

Does your lipstick have beads on it? Get rid of it. It means the oil has risen to the surface, where bacteria can form if you touch with a finger or applicator. This applies to all creamy products – eyeshadows, cream blush, concealers.

Toss any mascara after 3-4 months. Sooner if the smell changes. If it dries out before that time, do NOT add water (or saliva) to moisten it. That will introduce even more bacteria. Sharpen your eyeliner pencils with each use. You’ll refresh the point and also clear away any possible contamination. Here are some other “rules of thumb” expiration dates, but remember, if it doesn’t look right, glide right, or smell right, use your own common sense: Anti-aging creams can last 3 months to a year, max.  Shampoos/Conditioners, 3 years. Lotions 2-3 years, lipsticks and lipglosses, 2-3 years, depending on creaminess and active ingredients. Plumping ingredients, for instance, may wear off long before. Because of the alcohol content in perfume, bacterial growth is inhibited, but you’ll know if the scent is “off,” smells differently on your skin, and if the color of the juice has turned darker. On average, your favorite fragrance will last about 2 years and out.

“All natural” products have an even shorter shelf life, as plant-derived ingredients can contribute to bacterial growth. They may also contain non-traditional preservatives (or none at all). Even industry-standard preservatives degrade over time and lose their effectiveness.

Temperature affects all cosmetic products. So they must be kept away from high heat (have you ever tossed some in your beach bag?), sunlight, and warm drawers. I suppose you could keep your stash in the refrigerator, but walking to the kitchen every time you want to do your face isn’t the most convenient thing.

Since there are no regulations requiring cosmetic companies to indicate shelf life, your mission is to be aware, be advised, and keep bacteria away from your skin. And while we’re at it, wash those makeup brushes!  You can easily get makeup build-up mixing with oils from your skin. A nasty combination.  One last word of advice – avoid testers. Preservatives can take up to 24 hours to work. Did the last person who tested that product at the counter arrive there 5 minutes before you did?  Guess whose germs you just got?

I must admit, I was as guilty as most. Then my eyes started itching. So I went on a mad purge, throwing out most of my favorite products and colors. Sharpening pencils I did remember purchasing within a decent time frame. Cleaning all brushes. Guess what? My eyes don’t itch anymore.

Smokin’!

Sexy, sultry, smoky eyes are particularly dramatic with the total palette range of gray hair. It gives a very strong focus to the face that can be wonderful if you feel like your face is fading away. But subtlety is the key. You can end up looking a bit punk/Goth, or worst case scenario – like somebody gave you a shiner. So go lightly, apply with a fine hand, and all eyes will be on you!

To start, it’s always best to prime the lid to keep colors from smudging. Later on, you’ll want to smudge, but not on the lid. Borghese has a terrific line for creating a smoky eye, so I’m going to start with their primer – Eyeshadow Base. It comes in a tube, glides on effortlessly to create a smooth, unwrinkled surface, and creates a brighter, more even tone. $17.50

Next, grab one of their Shadow Milano Trios, three shades coordinated to make the light-midtone-deep selection sooo much easier.  The bonus is, these shades are crease-resistant, help condition delicate eye skin, and are amazingly long-lasting. $32.50

The obvious choice is to select their Il Bacio Gray, a blending of charcoal, white, and light gray tones. The white is hard to play, and looks a bit too dramatic on the browbone. It’s good for blending with the other two shades to give you a wider gray range if you like, but I’d prefer a soft, natural pinky tone on the browbone.

Which you can find in their Amalfi Sandstone trio, or their Prima Plum Mist. And these work just as well to create a smoky eye. I particularly like the Prima Plums. If I’m wearing black, yes, I’ll go for the mix of grays and black, but for anything else, using a softer, subtler color range works better. You can still create intensity.

You’ll want to rim your eyes in some way, either with a pencil or a liquid liner. Borghese makes a pencil I recommend in the book – it’s one of the few I really like because it does glide on very smoothly, and has a sponge tip at one end, which is great for smudging.  It’s called Eye Accento Pencil, and comes in shades like Black Vellura, Botticelli Charcoal, and Plum Espresso. Coordinate the color with the shadow range you choose. $20

If you prefer a liquid liner, go for their Linea Precisa Liquid Eyeliner.  With its felt-tip applicator, it’s very easy to use without botching up the whole job. Plus it’s waterproof, too. Which is a very good thing. $18.00

Now, here’s how to do it:

1. Apply the lightest eyeshadow shade to the area just under the browbone.
2. Apply the mid-tone shade from slightly above the crease to the lashline. Go over that, from the inside corner of the eye to midpoint on the lid with the lightest color. This creates a natural highlight and gives subtle shaping.
3. Apply the deepest shade at the outside corner of the eye, creating a small V from mid-lashline, up to the crease, and out to the side.
4. Rim your upper and lower lashline with either pencil or liquid eyeliner. This reinforces and helps hold the shadow colors. Here’s where subtlety comes into play – do NOT create a doe-eye, or sweep liner up and out at the sides. I don’t care what the magazines say. It always looks artificial. You’ve already swept your deepest shadow color up and out to the side. That’s enough.
5. Now here’s the fun smudgy part. And smudging is a must for the smoky eye look. If you’re using the pencil, use the sponge tip to smudge lightly along the lower lashline. ONLY. Then, take a straight-edged brush (see makeup tip “Be Precise,” below), dip in the deepest shadow shade, and gently “place” along the lower lashline.
5. Sweep on one or two coats of mascara (allowing each to dry between sweeps).

That’s it! Very simple really.  And very smokin’!

Don’t go there

Fall ’08 runway shows are as much about makeup trends as they are fashion. And here’s a coming trend I think we all should skip – pale, natural lips. Very pretty on ingénues and models, they really do nothing for a face that is looking a little tired, or pale, or surrounded by – yup – gray, white or silver hair.

The best thing to do is use your lips as a focal point. A way to make your teeth look whiter. A way to bring some life to your face. Red lips? Terrific. Matte red lips? Not so much. Remember, you want glow and light wherever you can get it. Purple lips or too-pale pink won’t do a thing for you either, but do investigate a pretty rose, a pink with some punch to it, a vibrant rose-coral or a soft plum.

Photo Credit: MAC cosmetics

Be Precise

This one comes from Jennifer Wobito, principal makeup artist for Going Gray, Looking Great!  http://www.jwoproductions.com

You know how you get an eyeshadow, and it comes with those little brushes? So you dip the brush in the color and swipe it all over your lid. Wrong-o. Jen taught me a little goes a long way. You have to be precise. And the best brush to get is one of those flat-across makeup brushes. Dip it in the shade, and put it – point it – exactly where you want the color to go. Sometimes it’s as simple as just applying a small “dot” of color just where you want it, say at the outside corner of the lid. Maybe you’ll want to brush the color up just a notch, maybe not. But the trick is, you control it, you put it just where you want.  Less is more, and color placed precisely has more of an impact.  I also use this brush to put color just under my lower lashes.  I do a very fine line there with the flat edge of the brush.  Because I use it with powder shadow, it gives a softer impression than pencil or liquid eyeliner. Try it. It may change the way you put on eyeshadow forever.