Beauty Q & A with John Gustafson

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

Hi John,

I hope you're well? You have given me some excellent advice in the past, and now I need your expert advice again please! I'm looking for a new foundation, and I have my eye on three, but I'd like to know if you rate one over the others. They are Givenchy Photo'Perfexion, Dior Nude and Clinique Even Better. I have combination skin with a tendency to get shiny throughout the day, and I'm currently on Dianette from my gynaecologist to clear up cystic spots I was getting due to PCOS. I'd like something with a bit of staying power that's not too heavy. The other thing is I am pale with blue/red undertones. I mean REALLY pale. Dita Von Teese-esque pale!  

Thanks in advance for your help, and best wishes,

Claire

 

Claire,

Welcome back! Glad to be of service... The problem with your choice of three is not so much that one is better than the others, it is that you will not find a shade to match your extremely pale skin on the Givenchy. And the Dior? Love it, but the paler shades are going to be a bit on the yellowy side for your blue-red complexion. That leaves us with the Clinique. Lovely product and they should have a pale enough porcelain shade for you. But might I make a suggestion? Just this very week Chantecaille brought out a new shade in their Future Skin foundation called Porcelain. It has been long needed and long awaited. I think this may be more the product for you. Chantecaille keeps their products free from chemicals, which will be good for your skin, it is an oil-free gel that is greaseless and comfortable, and you can adjust the coverage from sheer to full. It is a stunner. That should make your choice pretty easy, huh? This one is slightly more expensive than the ones you mentioned, but you will be ensured of a product that you will use right down to the last of the container and know for certain you have gotten what you paid for!

Best,

John

 

Dear John,

Please help me! I am 22 and I am suffering with very blocked pores and pimples. I have tried many face washes which are supposed to give clear skin and unblock pores etc but they dry out my skin and then make it extra oily. I am now using Superdrug's tea tree and aloe vera face wash for sensitive skin, which does clean my skin well, I use aloe vera moisturising cream from Holland and Barratt afterwards. I also use aloe vera gel on the pimples I want to heal up. But I have still got blocked pores and pimples! I don't know what else to try. Can you recommend anything? Products? Routines I can carry out at home? I am on student budget but I am ready to listen to any advice you can give.

Thanks

Denise

 

Denise,

It sounds like the main problem is that you are treating your skin for the condition you THINK it is rather than the condition that it is. If you are using products to clear the skin and they are leaving your skin too taught; you are stripping your skin. That becomes more evident when you say that your skin then gets even more oily. What your skin is doing is reacting to the feeling of dryness by producing as much oil as quickly as it can. But because the skin has been stripped, the pores are too tight to allow the oils to pass through the openings. This creates the blockages that are turning into both black and whiteheads for you.  You need to back off. Treat your skin as though it were completely normal. The best sort of cleanser for you would be something like Eve Lom. An oil that would help to soften and decongest the skin. I know you are on a budget, but this is a place where you are perhaps better to make a bit of a spend. You can get lesser expensive versions like Clinique Take The Day Off, Temple Spa In The Beginning, and Boot Time Delay Balm Cleanser. They all work by using a combination of essential oils, hot water, and a cloth to soften the pore and help to pull the blockages out. If you get this done, I think you will find that the rest will follow on very quickly. If you could swing it, moisturise with Karin Herzog Vita-A-Kombi to oxygenate and sterilise the skin. These two products alone should make your problem a thing of the past. Once you get the condition balanced and clear, you should be able to drop down to normally priced products to maintain your hard work. But if you don't get the skin balanced? You will suffer from this plague for years to come and most likely end up with enlarged pores for you trouble. I wish you the best and if you need any further advice, please drop me another line.

Best,

John

 

Hi John,

I am a huge fan...in fact I think you should be awarded for the amount of social work you do! My problem are a million small bumps (milia) on my upper eyelid as well as under the eyes... could you with your vast knowledge and expertise either suggest something to remove them (mind you I have already tried radiotherapy, topical chemicals etc  under doctor supervision but I guess there are just too many. I have recently heard of a product from a company called Naturalis- would you recommend using this on the eyelid and eye area? Also could you please suggest something that I can use to hide them?

Thanks

AB

 

AB,

Well, if you want to get your question answered, you have gone about it in exactly the right way! LOL Butter up the expert, lure him into a cosy self-satisfied place, and spring it on him! Milia are a pain in the patoot. Very difficult to get rid of and they just seem to appear out of nowhere. I had a look at the Naturalis range you mentioned and my goodness - they do a product to deal with virtually every problem under the sun (and a few that should be left out of the sun!!!)! But on reading about the Milia Treatment, they never really tell you how or why this is meant to work. The instructions for use are the same as I would tell anyone trying to deal with Milia, even without a product - and on reading, they have you already using three other products. I would also be a little bit wary of using this directly on my eyelids as it doesn't say whether or not this has been proven safe. When I finally found a place to buy it, the price was £91.00, which I thought a bit steep for the size of the jar. If I were you, I would go to see a cosmetic dermatologist and have them removed. You may even find a good facialist that would do an extraction near to the eyelid. This would involve a small sterile needle to pierce the skin and lift out the little blockage. Virtually painless and immediate. Then you simply need to make sure you are not using too rich products too near the eye area - a notorious cause of Milia. I hope that helps you a bit AB. I don't know much about this range first-hand, so can only go by the research I did on your behalf. I will continue to look into this brand and if I should find out anything else, will try to drop you a line again.

Warmest wishes,

John

 

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