About foundations...

I asked my friend Gervasio Larrivey (he no longer needs an introduction...) to share with us some tips on foundations... Here's what he wrote for our blog...

Foundations or fond de teint are no longer used to just correct your skin tone. Thanks to new technologies, cosmetic brands have been working on them so that they can also be used as moisturizers, anti-age treatments and, what's most important for me, sun blocks.

There are foundations of many types and textures. Ahead a brief analysis on the most common ones and some tricks to avoid mistakes when applying them or choosing the correct shade.

TINTED MOISTURIZING CREAMS: they provide hydration rather than concealment and usually have high SPFs, which make them ideal for more natural looks. They should be applied with your fingers to blend them properly. Not useful for those who need to conceal skin spots or marks. 

MOUSSE FOUNDATIONS: ideal for teen or very young oily skins, because they dry quickly and have a mate finish. They must be applied with your fingers. Should be avoided on older skins because, as they usually contain powder, can create a stiff effect.

LIQUID OR FLUID FOUNDATIONS: these are the most popular and used ones, ideal for all skin types according to their characteristics - mate for oily skins, moisturizing for dry skins, anti-age for older skins, etc. They act as light concealers and can be applied with your fingers, sponges or brushes.

CREAMY FOUNDATIONS: because of their high concealing power, they are ideal for skins that need to hide imperfections or spots. They are also good for those skins needing hydration because of their hydrating oils. Can be applied with your fingers, sponges or brushes, but always blending them properly to your skin.

COMPACT OR POWDER FOUNDATIONS: ideal for young skins, because they act as base, or to give a finishing touch to the whole make-up. Apply them with a sponge to achieve more coverage or with a brush for a natural look. Not useful for mature or dry skins because the excess of powder will highlight expression marks.

TO BEAR IN MIND:

- When choosing a foundation shade, try it on your jawbone and blend it towards your neck and face. The color that works better on those two areas is the one. Never try them on your hand because the tone on that part of your body is different from your face's.

- Foundations should be applied from the center of your face towards the sides and then down to your neck so it won't look as an unnatural mask.

- To fixate your make-up, it's best to use volatile powders, pressing on the areas to seal. Avoid excesses because that would bring forward expression lines.

- Use a toning or bronzing compact powder to give shape to your features and a blush to give color to your cheeks. My favorite are the peach-y tones because they provide a natural light to the face.

- When finishing applying your make-up, spraying a hydrating mist or thermal water will help fixate the foundation and remove excess powder to achieve a natural look.

My favorite foundations are: Guerlain's Parure Aqua and Parure Extreme because of their fluid texture, easy application and natural effect, providing hydration the first one and a long-lasting water-resistant look the second one. 

If I need to conceal I go for Kryolan Ultrafoundation or Dermacolor.

As for powder foundation, I love Guerlain's Compact Parure because of the lighting effect provided by its pearl micro-particles. 

I hope you find these tips useful and put them into practice.

Oh! And here goes Gervasio's web-site:

www.gervasiolarrivey.com.ar 

As usual, thank you so much Gervasio!!

Eyebrows...

I've asked my make-up guru, Gervasio Larrivey, to give us some tips to take care and do our eyebrows and here they are...

Gervasio says:

Eyebrows are definitely one of the most important features in our face. They frame our look and build our expressions.

Along time and fashion trends, they've been having a larger or smaller role: they went from being totally imperceptible during the 20s and 30s to being completely exaggerated during the 40s, 50s and 80s.

Nowadays you should go for a natural but yet defined look. Here some tips to have them always impeccable:

- Avoid waxing. Although its a fast method, the skin of our eyelid is very sensitive and among the first to reveal aging. If we are constantly exposing it to hard pulls by waxing, we'll be facing fallen eyelids in the future. 

- The best way to define and tidy your eyebrows definitely involves tweezers. There are a lot of options to choose from. My favorites are those with flat diagonal tips. They are precise and great for working in detail.

- If you have hairy eyebrows, it's best to define them slowly, avoiding abrupt changes that could change the features of your face. Begin by cleaning the space between both eyebrows and slowly continue giving shape.

- If you have a round or oval face, it's best to give them a more angular shape: this was popular during the 40s and 50s and it was called "dove wing," because of its outline, fuller in its origin, with a bend in its peak and growing thinner towards the end.

- On the contrary, square, rectangular or triangular faces should go for less rigid shapes.

- There are brow pencils and liners (eye pencils). Brow pencils have harder leads. If we define eyebrows with eye pencils, they will look grotesque. Brow pencils define without exaggerating.  

- Personally I prefer using compact shadows. This is how I work: first I tidy them with tweezers, then I comb them with a clear gel for eyebrows and finally, with a shaped (bended) brush and the chosen shadow, I fill where necessary and blend towards the end.

- Be it with pencil or shadow, avoid black. No matter how dark your hair is, eyebrows should always be a hue lighter. If not, they'll be rough on your features.

- My favorite colors are ashy browns, reds and chocolates, always mate.

- Black should be used only in theaters, runway shows or special fashion shoots, where it is common to play with exaggeration.

I hope they are useful for you and put them into practice. 

Tips to improve your make-up...

I asked Gervasio Larrivey, the only person I allow to do my make-up, and one of the best artists I know, to give us some tips to improve our make-up and enhance it.

Here they are...

These are the products you should invest in: foundation, corrector, powder and mascara. Here are some tips to bear in mind when choosing these products...

- The color of your foundation must be chosen by applying a drop on your jawbone, spreading it then to your neck and face. Pick the one that best suits your skin. Never buy it after applying it on your hand, because our face color is different from that of our hand.

- Correctors must be one or two hues lighter than the color of your foundation, and they can be fluid or creamy depending on the intensity of the zone to illuminate. If the circles under your eyes are very dark, chose an orange color to avoid the entire zone to look grey. 

- Powder is used to fixate and blend your foundation. I prefer loose powder as sealer and pressed powder for detailing. Excess in use will expose expression lines. 

- Bronzers and tanning powders will give color to your face. Apply them with a brush on your cheeks and move towards your jawbone, temple and nose.

- For a natural look when using blush, apply it to your cheek when smiling and blend it towards the cheekbone. A peach tone works well with most skin types: it enhances brunettes and will avoid redness on pale ones.

- Brown mascara creates a natural effect for day. Black mascara is perfect to define your eyes at night. Use waterproof mascara only on special occasions, because it tends to weaken your lashes.

- When picking eye-shadows, neutral, golden and bronze colors are great for everyday life. Black can be used as eyeliner and it will give depth to your eyes. Semi-matte shadows work well for under your eyebrows. 

- Use an ivory pencil liner for the inside of your eye. It gives light and enlarges your look. Black pencil defines and creates a sexier effect.

- Liquid liners are recommended for those used to them (Rosella is a master!!). To avoid accidents, pencils are a safer choice. 

- For lipstick to last longer, draw the outline and then fill the lip with the same liner. On top apply your lipstick. Avoid excess in gloss.

Thank you Gervasio!!!