Beauty Q & A with John Gustafson

Our make-up, skincare and beauty guru solves all your beauty dilemmas

Dear John,

About a year ago I noticed a small patch of hair missing in the midst of my very thick long hair.  Since that time, I have lost all of my hair, and just recently my one eyebrow and eyelashes from both eyes. I found a skilled permanent make up artist and had her do my eyebrows and lash line, so I would at least have the "appearance" of colour at the eye line. The result is better, but not quite good enough!  I am so tired of fiddling around with false eyelashes daily, and am seeking some eye make-up "how-to's" that might actually give the appearance of lashes...or at least, camouflage the fact that I don't have any.  I was wondering if darker colours on the lid continuing down to the eyeliner would provide the look I am looking for.  I may have no hair and no eyelashes, but I am in no way giving up on beauty!

Thank you,

Robin

 

Robin,

You have already taken one of the best steps you could with the semi-permanent colouring. You are correct in thinking that graduating the shading of your shadows and liner will deepen the line around your eyes and distract from the lack of lashes. Use your palest shade over the entire lid to just over the bone of the eye socket. Then a stronger colour layered over that one but that only goes to the socket itself. An eyeshadow that is a few tones deeper should then wash over the base of the lid about halfway to the crease, followed by the darkest shade just along the "lashline". Using a gel liner on the inside of the upper lids will also give the illusion of more colour in the lashline. Bobbi Brown Gel Liners are a favourite for this as they hold all day and don't irritate the eye.

The last thing I am going to tell you about is a little more controversial. I have a client who also suffers from full alopecia. To help her get around the fiddle of daily lash wearing, she wears a fine set of lashes on the INSIDE of her lid and only changes them once a week! I was shocked the first time I met her as when I was removing her eye makeup she asked me to be careful since she was wearing false lashes. As I cleaned away her eye makeup, I couldn't see any. I continued and told her she must have forgotten to put them on since there was nothing there on the lid. She explained what she did and offered to teach me how to do it - which has come in handy for loads of very up close shooting when I wanted thick luscious lashes without being able to tell they were on. She uses Eylure or MAC lashes that come on an already curved strip. You manipulate them a little bit more so they follow your own eyelid contour. Apply a very fine line of surgical lash adhesive (again Eylure) to the top edge of the strip instead of the leading edge of the strip. Then hold the lashes by the lashes themselves and gently press the strip to the little edge inside the rim of the eye where you would normally apply an eyeliner when you do the inside. It sounds really grim but it is so easy I can't tell you. And since the lashes appear to come from out of the lid underneath, they look completely natural. She usually removes them and gives here eyes a rest each week, but she says she can't even feel them and as long as she is careful with her makeup application and removal - there are never any problems with them moving. I was extremely doubtful, as I am sure you can appreciate, so she allowed me to practice on her a few times!

It really was as easy as she said provided the lashes are on a pre-curved strip. The real proof was that I then decided to try it out on myself - which I did as easily as I was able to do on her after a couple of practices. It is always a little bit nerve-wracking when you start out and I am not sure everyone can do it, but it certainly seems worth a try. Eylure Naturalite lashes are the ones to try and you can test both the ones with a clear fibre and a coloured fibre. The advantages of each would be that the clear makes each lash look completely individual, but the coloured one automatically lines the inside upper lid. Sorry that answer was so long, but this is worth a try is you have the stomach for it! LOL. She reuses hers until they fall apart but I would try fresh ones every week for the beginning to minimise the chance of infection.

Good luck mate,

John

 

Hi John,

I would love to wear mascara and eye liner every day but whenever I do wear eye make-up within a couple of hours it drops and I end up with large black circles under my eyes. Eye shadow and foundation also drops and it looks as if I have not put any makeup on. I have tried make-up bases, long lasting foundation and waterproof eye makeup but no luck at all. Can you suggest a full range of make-up products that'll leave me looking good all day?

Please help

Vicki

 

Vicki,

If all make-up on the eye drops or runs, it is usually to do with something other than the make-up itself. For instance, if your eye make-up remover is leaving a residue, nothing stands a chance of staying where you put it. Baby oil, Vaseline, and some specific waterproof eye makeup removers are all guilty. Use a non-oily eye make-up remover and see if that helps. Another frequent culprit is using your facial moisturiser too near the eye. If you are using your face product on the thin skin around the eye there is nowhere for the product to go and you are left with a fine film that disallows liner and mascara to hold. Use a specific eyecream, and even so...use the correct amount and keep it to the bone rather than on the eyelid itself.

There are a couple of mascaras that can get you around the problem. Kanebo 38 Degree and Clinique Lash Power both have a thermal reactive binder that will hold your mascara on to a temperature of 38 degrees. No eye make-up remover will budge either of them. When you are ready to take them off, you simply hold a hot wet flannel to your eyes for about ten seconds and then gently pull the mascara away. It will break down once it hits the magical 38 degrees and will come off in flakes. And then there are two mascaras - by Blink and Becca -  that put a "straw" tube around the lashes. With these two, they are removed by gently pulling the tubular casings off of the lashes. Sounds damaging but I promise it isn't. Paul & Joe have an amazing waterproof mascara that holds like iron and actually requires THEIR eye makeup remover to take it off - so that may be another option for you.

For liner, I get on amazingly well with the Bobbi Brown Gel Liners. There is a reason they win the best liner award every single year! If you are looking for an actual range that gives you longevity, the best I can think of is the Lauder Doublewear range. It consists of transfer/water resistant foundations in two weights, powder, concealer, liners, lipsticks, cream shadows, and mascara. Using those either with or without a long-lasting primer should give you exceptional hold for all of your cosmetics.

Hang in there!

John

 

Hi John

My question:  In which order do I use the following before applying make-up:Tri-Aktiline deep wrinkle filler, L'Oreal Revitalift deep-set wrinkle cream, L'Oreal Age Perfect double acting de-crinkling and illuminating cream, L'Oreal Age Perfect rehydrating day cream - anti-sagging and anti-age spots, Clarins Beauty Flash Balm & eye balm, Lancôme Primordiale skin recharge, No 7 Firming Mask,No 7 Age Rewind Day Cream, No 7 Protect and Perfect beauty serum, No 7 Age Rewind, No 7 Skin Illuminator, Dior Capture Totale Crème Multi-Perfection...to name but a few!

I use Dior Gel de Lait Cleansing Gelee for face, lips and eyes and splash with cold water. I use Tri-Aktiline under my eyes (only); Revitalift deep-set wrinkle cream on a very small frown line between my eyes and at either side of my nose down to my lip.  Age Perfect Rehydrating Day Cream on rest of face and neck. I let all that sink in and then use the day cream of my choice, plus an eye cream.  The reason for the day creams is that the anti-wrinkle creams are very sticky and make-up does not glide over them very well.  I am sure I have too many SPF15's going on under and in the make-up.  All my friends tell me (and they are right!) that my skin looks lovely, but I am worried there are too many products together on my skin. I have a very small frown line between my eyes - hardly visible to anyone but me apparently.  I have very feint lines on my forehead and no deep line crow's feet. 

Can you advise which items from the above to leave out!

Thank you.

Viv

 

Viv,

In the name of all that is cosmetically holy, OMG you have a lot of products! I thought MY bathroom cabinet was full, but yours must be bulging at the seams. The answer to what you need and don't need is probably not going to make you very happy - but rest assured that you have not actually wasted money. It is more that you are wasting time doing the same job over and over and over. I wish you had included your age and whether you have a drier or oily skin. But without those, I would tell you that all you really need is the Tri-Aktiline and a good moisturiser and eyecream. Really. You are doing an overkill.

Tri-Aktiline does all of the jobs that the first three steps are doing. And why do you need a second moisturise if the first one had been enough? The number of SPF's is less a concern to me than what it will be like when you start noticing other signs of aging and feel like each of those needs a separate product as well! If both your moisturiser and foundation hold an SPF, look at it more like insurance that you actually have got the job done and dusted. A few of your products are more specific to infrequent use such as the mask, the Beauty Flash, and the Illuminator - so I won't jump on about those. But you really need to ease off. You run the risk of some of your products cancelling out the good that other ones are doing. And if it was a perfect world and you really are concerned with the faint lines on your forehead, wouldn't it be worth considering a little Botox? This is not a solution for everyone, and it may not be for you either, but if you are really paranoid...this would be a much more permanent solution than endless layers of products. So there you have it. Tri-Aktiline used more liberally and in more areas, a single moisturiser that does everything you feel needs doing and is age/need appropriate, and a good eyecream. The end. Any idea how much money you just saved? LOL...

Best,

John

 

 

 

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