Beauty Q & A with John Gustafson

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

John,

I am off on holiday at the end of August and have about half a bottle of my face and body sunscreens left. Are these still safe to use or do I need to get another set? I hate throwing them away if I don't need to. I originally got them for a holiday about 6 months ago, if that helps.

Cynthia

 

Cynthia,

Theoretically, the shelf life of the sunscreen should allow you to still get your protection from these products, but the truth of the matter is they are really not as stable as they once were because they have already been exposed to the elements. The best rule of thumb when it comes to sun protection is to buy new stuff every time you are going to need it. That doesn't apply to what you use for daily city protection - obviously, but most of us either take the products to the beach or put them in our bag when we are walking around sightseeing so we can keep them topped up. The changes in temperature and exposure to the light of the sun cause the formulations to weaken and you will not be getting the protection you are expecting. Had the products been applied only in your hotel room and then stored in a nice dark cupboard at home awaiting your next voyage...you would have been able to use them pretty confidently! But since the chances of this are slim - play safe and pick up another set. Better safe than sorry.

Have a great holiday (...and I am jealous your sunscreen has had more holidays than I have! LOL),

John

 

Dear John,

I am not a smoker, nor am I particularly old (34), but I seem to be getting a lot of tiny little lines around my mouth. And because of this, my lipsticks seem to creep out and look fuzzy only about an hour after I apply them. I love the look of glossy stuff, but usually end up only using a lip pencil so the finish is less likely to bleed. First, is there anything I can do to help sort the lines out? And if not, are there any tricks that will help me to keep the lipsticks I wear from making me look like an old lady?

Thanks for your reply,

Mhari

 

Mhari,

Fortunately, the answer to both questions is, yes! Nobody knows why some women get this problem and others - sometimes the ones you would expect to have it - don't. I have known life-long smokers with train tracks around their mouths to never suffer with lipstick "bleeding", and then there are those like you who can't keep it in place for love nor money. One of the most important things is to keep your lips in really good condition. Some companies make lips exfoliators, but you keep also smooth the lips by simply brushing them with your toothbrush and a little extra toothpaste. Once you have done that, apply a really good lip-conditioning product. Not a cheapy convenient one like Chapstick, Blistex, Carmex, Lipsyll...a proper skincare product. The others are excellent temporary barrier products, but you need something that is conditioning and healing. Arden 8-Hour Cream is a good one, and most of the ones you can get from a skincare house will do the trick. If you are really serious, you could go for an anti-aging product that helped to deal with lines such as NV Perricone Lip Plumper, Shiseido Benefiance Lip Treatment, or Lauder Perfectionist Lip Treatment. They are a little more costly at around £25-£30, but they will help you to both condition and push the lines out by building the support and collagen and temporarily filling the actual lines.

As for keeping the lipstick you wear in place, some women swear by applying a little bit of foundation and powder to the lips before putting on lipstick/liner. I am not a great fan as I think it can dull the colour and finish, though if it works? Do it. Guerlain Liplift is a stick that is sort of a fleshy colour, and that also helps to lock down your lippie. But I am going to give you a couple of tricks. The first is a product by Benefit called D'Finer D'Liner. It is a transparent waxy pencil that you apply to the outside of your lipline. This creates an invisible barrier that prevents lipsticks and glosses from crossing the line. It sort of repels the waxes of the lipstick as they start to warm up on your skin. I find this works a treat and you can even fill in deeper lines to prevent running. Another product you can find from Shu-Uemura, Laura Mercier, and Shiseido (among others) and they are flesh coloured pencils that look like precision concealers. Not only do they help keep the colour inside the lines, but if the colour has started to shift during the day, you can use these to tidy up the mess and give you a fresh edge again. And finally, all of the old tricks of blotting and re-applying, pressing a tissue over your lipstick and tapping a little powder over it and then using a bit more lipstick, and filling your lips with lip pencil before applying lipstick can be of help. I think you may have to play around with any and all of these in combination to see what works for you. But don't give up Mhari - where there is a will, there is a way.

All the best,

John

 

John,

I hope this is something you can help me with, even though you can't see exactly what I am talking about! I have worn glasses for years and I think I look quite nice in them. But I recently got a new pair that I thought would be a bit more trendy. The problem is that I really am at a loss as to what to do on my eyes for make-up. All of my older frames have had some metal as a part of the frame, and I could get away with a little shadow, a liner, and a quick lick of mascara. Now when I do that, my eyes just disappear behind the plastic of the frame. The new ones are the kind that are more rectangular and are solid darker plastic. I love them and was convinced they made me look sophisticated and intelligent. In hindsight, I think they make me look harsh. I find I am going back to my older frames more and more frequently. Have I completely wasted my money or is there a way I can make my eye make-up pull this frame off?

What do you think?

Jennifer S.

 

Jennifer,

As you said Jennifer, this is going to be a little trickier since I can't see you, but a woman in need is my mission! I actually see a lot of this in the Studio - women that have bought fantastic frames that are just too heavy for their features or their personality. That is not to say you can't have a more graphic and funky frame, but you need to make sure your glasses either don't wear you, or that you want them to be a strong feature. Due to the ridiculous cost of glasses, it would be nice if more opticians had a style consultant that could help you choose the best pair as well as give you a few tips on how to wear them. So here are a few hints I have found over the years that make strong frames wearable.

There are several ways you can approach the problem, but all of them will require some direct thought as to the effect you want to achieve. One of the most important steps will be making sure your eyebrows are in good nick. With a more graphic frame, often they cut across the brow and hide it completely or end up making us look a little on the cross side. This might be a time to enlist the help of a professional brow shaper. Take your old glasses and your new ones in and let them have a good look. Give direction as to whether you want a change in shape, more or less weight, and remember - they are your brows! Don't let them change your appearance completely since this is being done to ease another issue...you don't want your eyebrows making you feel uncomfortable as well.

For colour application, you can go for classic and sophisticated by applying a nice simple matte eyeshadow - probably in two colours, flesh and a mid-toned brown or grey - quite softly. A simple contour will do. Line the bottom only to help balance out the weight of the frames and do a fairly decent strength mascara. Now the most important part of this look is to balance with a pretty strong lipstick. Think sexy librarian! Try this look with tailoring and clean lined clothes. Or you can go for a single sweep of a slightly reflective colour near the lashes to get some light underneath the glasses, and here you could do a soft pretty colour or a neutral. The key is to keep it paler so the light lifts up underneath the glasses. Again, line the bottom lid and apply mascara. Lips with this look can be a little bit softer. You could try either a mid-toned colour or one with a touch more gloss or sheen. This looks nice with floral patterns or softer colours.

If you really want to try to make a feature of the glasses, try a stronger eye. Pale as a base shade, but with smoky blending close to the lashes. Line much more generously and do the same with your mascara. If you have a larger eye area, perhaps add a jolt of an accent colour about halfway between the outer corner and the pupil - near the lashline and blend. Then go for a paler, sexy lipstick or a deep strong one. But with this look I would try a full opaque coverage lipstick. Beige if your complexion will take it, plummy if you have the gumption, red if you like it, or a true rose if your colouring is softer. I hope this helps you out Jennifer; it must be really frustrating for you. If you really need further assistance, book an appointment with a make-up artist and let them have a good look and see what solutions can be had.

Independent advice would be best as you don't need to be sold a lot of new products - you just need advice on new application techniques. And if you can do cancellations, you can always ring my Studio and I would be delighted to try to sort this out for you!

"See" you soon,

John

 

 

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